Amityville homeowners receive 'tax freeze' checks averaging $300

Amityville homeowners received “tax freeze” checks averaging approximately $300 from New York State over the weekend, Mayor James Wandell wrote in an email to residents.

The rebate is roughly equivalent to the village’s 2015 property tax increase per house. Homeowners who received the STAR property tax exemption and lived in municipalities and school districts that complied with the state-imposed tax levy cap were eligible for the checks.

Wandell credited trustee Nick LaLota, who prepares the village budget, for writing three consecutive village budgets that complied with the tax cap. And, while officials have said that the village still faces stiff financial challenges, Wandell went a step further, calling LaLota “the architect of Amityville’s financial comeback.”