Qualified homeowners to get property tax relief checks of less than $200 in '16

The $3.1 billion property tax rebate plan in the big, end-of-session bill will include relief of less than $200 to qualified homeowners to be delivered weeks before Election Day next year, according to internal summaries of the measure obtained by Newsday.

The summaries provided by two state officials shows that a qualified taxpayer on Long Island and in the New York City suburbs in the Hudson Valley would get $130 in relief by Oct. 15, 2016. Qualified upstate homeowners would receive a $185.

But the rebate will be combined in a single check with the previously enacted property tax "freeze" program. That will raise the check total to $423 in Nassau County, $425 in Suffolk County, $418 in the Hudson Valley suburbs of New York City, and $302 upstate. The statewide average would be $347, according to one of the documents.

The tax relief doesn't go to New York City property owners.

The program will provide $900 million in relief next year, rising to $1.3 billion in 2019.

The maximum income threshold will be $275,000 for a household. But to receive the relief the taxpayer must live in a school district that adheres to the 2-percent cap on property tax growth.

By the fourth and final year, the average tax credit will be $532, according to the summary.

About 2.5 million taxpayers will benefit from the program aimed at combating some of the highest property taxes in the nation.

The first year of the program will result in a tax rebate check, which has long been the preferred method of the Senate's Republican majority. The following three years will be in the form of an addition to the STAR property tax savings already provided to homeowners.

The biggest relief will go to households with income not over $75,000. The next highest relief goes to households with income of $75,000 to $150,000; the next highest to households making $150,000 to $200,000, and the least relief by percentage of STAR tax benefit will go to households with income between $200,000 and $275,000, according to the summary.

When fully phased in during the fourth year, the program will provide $1.3 billion in tax relief. It is scheduled to be voted into law Thursday.