STAR is New York's help with school taxes for owners who live in their home. Look for this year's check in October or early November, before the first school tax payment is due. The state hasn't posted this year's Nassau amounts; it does that in November. Until then, last year's check is your best guide. For the same level of STAR in the same district, this year's credit can be at most 2% more than last year's. It can also be lower.
Find your school district below. These are last year's (2025-26) credits for one-, two- and three-family homes (homestead homes in Glen Cove), rounded to the dollar. Your check may differ.
| School district | Basic | Enhanced |
|---|---|---|
| Amityville | $1,137 | $3,375 |
| Baldwin | $1,108 | $3,191 |
| Bellmore | $1,086 | $3,073 |
| Bethpage | $899 | $2,584 |
| Carle Place | $878 | $2,471 |
| Cold Spring Harbor | $813 | $2,276 |
| East Meadow | $752 | $2,107 |
| East Rockaway | $1,055 | $3,002 |
| East Williston | $914 | $2,574 |
| Elmont | $858 | $2,433 |
| Farmingdale | $993 | $2,871 |
| Floral Park-Bellerose | $767 | $2,185 |
| Franklin Square | $567 | $1,586 |
| Freeport | $910 | $2,547 |
| Garden City | $704 | $1,976 |
| Glen Cove | $800 | $2,056 |
| Great Neck | $667 | $1,855 |
| Hempstead | $1,134 | $3,174 |
| Herricks | $817 | $2,299 |
| Hewlett-Woodmere | $1,163 | $3,300 |
| Hicksville | $693 | $1,970 |
| Island Park | $836 | $1,949 |
| Island Trees | $735 | $2,058 |
| Jericho | $951 | $2,705 |
| Lawrence | $444 | $1,242 |
| Levittown | $1,162 | $3,304 |
| Locust Valley | $809 | $2,257 |
| Long Beach | $619 | $1,734 |
| Lynbrook | $1,069 | $3,044 |
| Malverne | $1,003 | $2,882 |
| Manhasset | $528 | $1,517 |
| Massapequa | $979 | $2,791 |
| Merrick | $1,116 | $3,170 |
| Mineola | $725 | $2,030 |
| New Hyde Park-Garden City | $756 | $2,170 |
| North Bellmore | $1,015 | $2,878 |
| North Merrick | $1,006 | $2,862 |
| North Shore | $846 | $2,321 |
| Oceanside | $929 | $2,628 |
| Oyster Bay-East Norwich | $670 | $1,878 |
| Plainedge | $1,115 | $3,138 |
| Plainview-Old Bethpage | $1,027 | $2,907 |
| Port Washington | $792 | $2,270 |
| Rockville Centre | $1,089 | $3,147 |
| Roosevelt | $810 | $2,267 |
| Roslyn | $881 | $2,507 |
| Seaford | $1,072 | $3,049 |
| Syosset | $1,124 | $3,215 |
| Uniondale | $750 | $2,144 |
| Valley Stream 13 | $797 | $2,297 |
| Valley Stream 24 | $847 | $2,407 |
| Valley Stream 30 | $852 | $2,387 |
| Wantagh | $1,035 | $2,941 |
| West Hempstead | $896 | $2,544 |
| Westbury | $1,156 | $3,242 |
Amityville and Cold Spring Harbor are Suffolk districts that reach into some Nassau neighborhoods.
The middle Basic check across these 55 districts was $881 and the middle Enhanced $2,507. Lawrence was lowest on both ($444 and $1,242). Enhanced fell in 47 of 55 districts from the year before.
Basic or Enhanced
Enhanced is for homes where at least one owner who lives there is 65 or older by December 31. Basic is for everyone else who qualifies.
Income limits for this year's benefit: $110,750 or less for Enhanced, $500,000 or less for the Basic credit. The state reads your 2024 return, federal adjusted gross income minus the taxable part of IRA distributions, and counts only the owners who live in the home and their spouses who live there.
Moving from Basic to Enhanced is a much bigger jump than 2%. New this year: you don't apply when you turn 65. The state moves credit holders to Enhanced once they qualify, and exemption holders no longer apply with the assessor.
When the check comes
The state sends the credit before school taxes are due. In the towns of Hempstead, North Hempstead and Oyster Bay, and in Long Beach, the first half of school tax is due October 1 and you can pay it without penalty through November 10. Glen Cove runs its own, earlier school tax calendar.
Pay your school taxes by the deadline whether or not the check has arrived.
If nothing has come:
1. Check the STAR delivery schedule. It shows when the state started mailing to your area. Allow 5 to 10 business days.
2. Check the property tax credit lookup. It shows whether your credit was issued and for how much.
For direct deposit next time, sign up in the state's Homeowner Benefit Portal at least 15 days before the state issues your credit, or you get a paper check once more. The deposit can't go into an escrow account.
Still on the old exemption
Some longtime owners get STAR as an exemption on the tax bill. The credit can grow up to 2% a year; the exemption can't. Last year the Basic credit paid more than the Basic exemption in 50 of 55 Nassau districts. For Enhanced, the credit paid more in 21 and the same in the other 34. Once you switch to the credit, you can't switch back.
Bought this year
Register online with the state. The state goes by who owned the home on July 1. Own it by then, live there and meet the rules, and you can get this year's credit. Buy after July 1 and your first credit comes next year.
You can register late, up to three years from the income tax filing deadline for the year the credit covers. For a 2026 credit, that's April 2030.
STAR and a grievance
A grievance usually doesn't change STAR. The state figures it from a fixed exemption amount per district, the same for every home in it, times the school tax rate. Your own assessment isn't in the math. The one limit: STAR can't exceed the school taxes you pay, so a grievance would have to cut your school taxes below the STAR amount to touch it. You can have both.
Every number here is from the New York State tax department. The amounts are on its Nassau STAR credit table. To register, set up direct deposit or check your mailing date, use the state's STAR page or call 518-457-2036. Registering is free, and you can do it yourself.