David McKay Wilson

dwilson3@lohud.com

A Larchmont homeowner who owns a $4 million home on Long Island Sound would qualify for a tax-freeze check of about $875 if the Mamaroneck schools stay under the tax cap.

A Patterson condominium owner who owns a unit valued at $96,600 would get a tax-freeze check for $15 if the Carmel schools come under the tax cap.

A Pearl River homeowner in a home valued at $565,000 would receive a tax-freeze check for about $150 if the Pearl River schools come under the cap.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's property tax freeze is pretty cool, especially if you're Joseph and Catherine Carney, who live in a slate-roofed waterfront mansion valued at $4 million on Larchmont's Cedar Island.

The Carneys paid about $88,000 in property taxes in 2013, including $48,500 in taxes to the Mamaroneck schools. The Mamaroneck town assessment rolls state that the Carneys have a STAR tax exemption — a tax break for families with household income less than $500,000 — so they qualify for Cuomo's freeze.

If the Mamaroneck schools budget in May stays under the state's tax cap, New York taxpayers will bankroll a check this fall to the Carneys for $880. That happens to be when Cuomo, a New Castle Democrat, stands for re-election against Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, the Mount Pleasant Republican who has cut the county tax levy during his first term in office.

In 2015, Cuomo's tax freeze gets better for the Carneys. If Westchester County, Larchmont village, Mamaroneck town and the schools stay within the tax cap, the Carneys could get a check from Albany for about $1,500, according to Tax Watch estimates.

The Carneys did not return numerous phone messages seeking comment.

The Carneys' tax freeze check will be among the largest in the state. At the Patterson Village condominiums in Putnam County, Susan Martin owns a unit valued at $96,600. She'll get a check for $15 if the Carmel schools stick within the cap, delivering a tax levy increase no greater than 1.4 percent this year. If the town of Patterson and Putnam County do so in 2015, and the Carmel school board again holds the line, her tax freeze bounty would hit $27.

Owners of mid-priced homes, such as the one owned by Christopher Powers at 2 Terrence Court in Pearl River, would receive a check for about $150 if the Pearl River schools stay within its 1.46 percent cap. The check would grow by $90 if Rockland County and the town of Orangetown stay within the cap in 2015.

Larry Schwartz, the White Plains homeowner who serves as Cuomo's secretary, told Tax Watch that the state will investigate whether the Carneys are within the $500,000 income limit to qualify for the STAR program.

"If you have household income of less than $500,000, can you afford to pay $90,000 in property taxes?" said Schwartz. "There may be one or two oddball cases out there. This warrants further investigation. That's extreme."

He maintains the tax-freeze program serves the middle class, which, according to Schwartz, includes those earning up to $500,000.

"I would consider someone making up to $500,000 as upper middle-class, I wouldn't classify them as rich," said Schwartz, who was deputy Westchester county executive under Astorino's predecessor, Andrew Spano. "My wife and I are middle class, we make about $300,000 a year. I'm paying $12,000 in taxes in White Plains. The tax freeze is intended to help the working poor and the middle class."

Schwartz's conception of middle-class New York includes top-earners like himself, and his upscale Westchester neighbors. Just 5 percent of New York households earned more than $227,000 in 2012 — the highest category listed by the census. Westchester's median household income — the absolute middle, with half earning more and half earning less — is $81,000. The Carneys pay more in annual property taxes.

Homeowners such as the Carneys would get the biggest bang from Cuomo's tax-freeze buck, with the magnitude of your property-tax relief check dependent on how much property taxes you pay. That means homeowners in the Lower Hudson Valley will be among the plan's biggest beneficiaries because high property values yield the nation's highest tax bills.

The tax freeze, which was adopted this week as part of the 2013-14 state budget, is tied to Cuomo's tax cap. Instituted in 2011, it mandates that municipal governments and school districts secure a super-majority vote to exceed the cap, which is tied to the rate of inflation.

Cuomo wants to use the carrot of the Albany check to provide broad-based incentives for local governments to stay within the cap. It would apply to schools in 2014 and 2015. Municipal governments, as well as fire districts and counties, would participate in 2015 and 2016.

The checks from Albany would equal the tax increase that the homeowners would have paid in budgets that come in under the cap. In the second year, the checks would come if the government stayed within the cap, and came up with a plan to cut its tax levy by 1 percent. These savings could include efficiencies through consolidation and shared services.

It's an election year in New York, so don't confuse your Cuomo tax-freeze check with the state STAR $350 rebate check, which was approved in 2013, and will also come in the mail to STAR recipients who have a child under the age of 18. Qualifying for the check in 2014 will be 1.2 million families that make between $40,000 and $300,000 a year and have a child younger than 17 on Dec. 31.

Twitter: @davidmckay415

Update

Fairview Fire Chief Anthony LoGuidice apologized to Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner for vulgar, anti-Semitic remarks he made about the supervisor to fellow fire department employees.

Learn more

Find out what your local school district is planning for its 2014-15 budgets, which are being debated and will determine whether homeowners get the state tax rebate.