In Nassau, your STAR credit should arrive in October or early November. The state pays it before your school taxes are due. If the due date comes and the money hasn't, pay the bill anyway. STAR runs on its own schedule, and the tax deadline doesn't wait for it.
The Nassau timeline
In the towns of Hempstead, North Hempstead and Oyster Bay, and in the city of Long Beach, the first half of school tax is due October 1. You can pay it through November 10 without a penalty. Glen Cove bills school tax earlier, so its STAR payments come earlier too.
The state mails checks area by area. Once it says it has started mailing in your school district and town, allow 5 to 10 business days. Your neighbors may get theirs on a different day than you, and the state can't give you an exact date over the phone.
How much to expect
For the same level of STAR in the same school district, this year's credit can be at most 2% higher than last year's. It can also be lower. The state posts this year's Nassau amounts in November. Until then, last year's figure for your district is the best guide, and every district is listed in our STAR amounts post.
Switch to direct deposit
Log in to the state's Homeowner Benefit Portal and choose STAR Credit Direct Deposit. Sign up at least 15 days before the state issues your credit. Any later and you'll get a paper check this year, with the deposit starting next year. The money can't go into your mortgage escrow account. Our sign-up post shows where to find the portal.
If nothing has arrived
1. Check the state's delivery schedule. Pick Nassau, then your school district, then your town. It tells you when mailing started there.
2. Check the credit lookup. It lists every STAR payment the state has sent you since 2018, with the date and the amount. If this year's payment is there and it went by direct deposit, check your bank details in the portal and allow up to 15 days from the issue date.
3. Look at your school tax bill. If STAR appears as a line on the bill, you got the old exemption this year, and there's no check on top of it. New owners sometimes inherit the seller's exemption for the first year. Their own check starts the year after.
If none of that explains it, call the state at 518-457-2036, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
If you never signed up
Then no check is on its way yet. Registering is free and you only do it once. Our sign-up post has the four steps, and our missed years post explains how to claim up to three past years.
Every rule here comes from the New York State tax department's STAR delivery page and its STAR questions page.