ALBANY, NY - New York State Department of taxation and Finance has announced a new initiative that changes the way homeowners apply for the basic STAR Tax Exemption. The Tax Department as of August 26th, 2013 and confirmed by the department in a written statement, has mailed out 550,000 STAR registration letters to Homeowners in 17 Western Region Counties. These counties include; Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming and Yates. Including this most recent mailing, the total outreach is 2.6 million homeowners.