Residents can expect a heftier tax refund check
Southold Town residents can expect the property tax refund checks they receive from New York State for the next three years to be a little larger than the ones they got in 2014.
The program, known as the New York State Property Tax Freeze Credit, led to the issuance of small checks last year to residents of school districts that did not pierce the property tax cap.
This year it has been expanded to include local municipalities that complied with the property tax cap. To be eligible in 2016, taxing districts will have to submit an efficiency plan showing a strategy to trim spending by 1 percent next year. For Southold Town, that means $323,000 in proposed cuts, according to Supervisor Scott Russell.
Southold has until June 1 to submit its 2016 efficiency plan for approval by the New York State Division of Budget, according to comptroller John Cushman, who added that the plan does not have to be implemented.
The checks are issued in the fall of each year.
Mr. Russell said all cuts need to be quantifiable, which has made for a challenging process. He said, however, that he believes the town will propose a large enough cut that it is likely to receive approval from the state.
