ICYMI: State to start mailing tax-rebate checks in late Sept.

ALBANY – Be sure to check the mailbox soon, there could be a state check waiting for you.

New York plans to start rolling out its two tax-rebate programs in late September: a $350 check for families with children and then a check to refund residents for this year's growth in school property taxes.

The money comes courtesy of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature, who are all up for re-election in November. They approved the roughly $750 million in tax breaks for families and homeowners over the past two years.

"For most New Yorkers, Christmas comes early this year. Obviously people like to receive free stuff — even though it really is their money," said Blair Horner, legislative director for the New York Public Interest Research Group.

Cuomo has praised both rebate programs.

"After years of dysfunction that led to out of control spending, we were able to restore fiscal responsibility to Albany and because of that, we're able to provide this relief to taxpayers," Cuomo said in a statement to the Journal's Albany bureau.

Critics and Cuomo's Republican opponent Rob Astorino have blasted the rebate checks, saying they are election-year gimmicks.

"This is all part of the corrupt system in Albany that abuses taxpayer dollars for personal political gain," Astorino spokeswoman Jessica Proud said.

The state Department of Taxation and Finance said Cuomo's name won't appear on the checks, they will be signed by the department's commissioner, and there won't be any accompanying message from Cuomo.

In 2006, then-Gov. George Pataki and the Legislature were knocked for election year rebate checks that included a mailer that credited lawmakers and the governor.

In 2013, Cuomo and Legislature agreed to provide the $350 checks to residents with children under 17 as of 2012 and with incomes between $40,000 and $300,000.

It's a three-year program that was part of a budget deal that included keeping higher taxes on millionaires and increasing the minimum wage to $9 an hour by the end of 2015.

This year, residents will receive the $350 checks in the mail — to an estimated 1 million families. In 2015 and 2016, the money will come as credits when people file their state income taxes.

Cuomo has said that the checks would help families in one of the highest taxed states in the country.

"I want the people of this state to know that we understand the pressure they're under, and this state is going to do everything it can to keep costs low," Cuomo said in March 2013.

The givebacks won't stop there.

In March, Cuomo and the Legislature agreed to what the governor calls a property-tax freeze. The program provides a rebate to homeowners whose local governments and schools stay under the property-tax cap — which limits the growth in property taxes to less than 2 percent a year.

The rebate starts this fall just for school taxes, and the checks will go out in October. The rebate will be for the amount of the increase in school taxes approved by voters last spring — thus freezing people's tax bills, Cuomo has said.

So if your school district stayed under the tax cap and your school taxes went up $50, you'd get a $50 check. All but a few of the state's roughly 700 districts stayed under the cap for the fiscal year that started July 1.

It's a three-year program that will result in over $1.5 billion in direct property tax relief, Cuomo's office said.

The state estimates that the average benefit per household over the three years will total $656. Overall, 2.8 million households will get a check each year.

The tax department said it wouldn't know the rebate amounts by district until early next month.

But it will vary by parts of the state. Because the New York City suburbs pay the highest property taxes, they'll get the largest breaks.

Earlier this year, Cuomo's budget office estimated that the average rebate in 2015 would be $200 upstate and $580 in the New York City suburbs. Westchester County pays the highest property taxes in the nation, and the rebate check there will average at least $800.

Critics have knocked the program, saying it benefits the wealthy.

The program is limited by the same eligibility as the state's STAR property-tax exemption: households with adjusted gross income more than $500,000 are ineligible. The break is also only available on a primary residence.

More help should be going to poor communities with struggling schools, said Billy Easton, executive director of the Alliance for Quality Education, a union-backed group.

"The wealthier you are, the larger check you are going to get," Easton said. "This is sending more money to wealthy school districts than to poor ones. It's backwards."

In year two, the rebate checks will come in the fall and be a combination of school and local government tax breaks — but only if they stay under the tax cap and come up with a plan to share services.

Cuomo has explained that the goal is to incentive local governments and schools to come up with long-term tax savings.

"New York has no future as the tax capital of the world and by putting more money in the pockets of families and incentivizing local governments to cut costs and make the structural changes needed to keep taxes down, we are strengthening the state's economy and creating more opportunities for our residents," Cuomo said in the statement to Gannett.

Last month, the state Department of Taxation and Finance released a 20-page guideline report on the tax freeze. It explains that local governments and schools will need to develop a plan that saves at least one percent of the tax levy to qualify for the program.

Local governments and schools can include shared services or consolidations that they've done since 2012 to be eligible for the tax breaks.

Gerry Geist, executive director of the state Association of Towns, said local governments were hoping for a longer look-back period. Cuomo agreed to one as part of the budget deal in March at the request of municipalities and schools.

"What we hear from our members is that, 'We have been doing this for years, and why shouldn't we be getting credit for efficiencies and shared services programs, especially when we started them during the recession?" Geist said.

JSPECTOR@Gannett.com; www.twitter.com/gannettalbany.

What you'll get

Rebate checks will be flowing to homes across the state starting in late September:

• If you have children 17 or younger and have an annual income of $40,000 and $300,000, you'll get a $350 check.

• If your school district stayed within the property-tax cap, you'll get a check in October for the difference of the increase in taxes and zero.