COOPERSTOWN - The state's School Tax Relief exemption program for senior citizens will offer residents who are 65 or older a new way to claim their $50,000 property tax exemption this fall.

"They can do what they have been doing, or they can authorize the state Department of Taxation to verify their income every year," said Steve Child, Otsego County's Real Property Tax director.

If senior citizens authorize the state Department of Taxation to verify their income, they will not have to submit copies of income tax returns to their assessors in future years, Child said.

"It's a one-shot deal, and it may be easier for some people," he said.

Appropriate forms soon will be mailed to people, he said.

To qualify for the Enhanced STAR program, family income must be $62,100 or less, he said. The property tax exemption must be applied to the assessed value of a primary residence for the purpose of lowering school taxes, he said.

Property owners under age 65 may apply for the standard $30,000 STAR exemption.

The state adopted the STAR program in 1997. The Enhanced STAR program took effect the following year, and STAR was extended to younger property owners in 1999.

Child said that at one time he was skeptical about the state being able to afford continuing the program, "but I don't see how it could be stopped, now. People's school taxes in many places have climbed back up to where they were before STAR began."