Central New York residents have received nearly $84 million in inflation refund checks, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday.

Figures released by the governor’s office show 321,000 checks totaling $83.8 million were sent out in Syracuse and CNY as part of the state’s first-ever Inflation Refund Check program. Families or joint tax filers could receive up to $400, and individuals could get as much as $200.

A total of 8.2 million checks were sent out statewide for a total of more than $2 billion.

Hochul described the one-time, direct payments as a “refund” because increased consumer prices, due to inflation, led to more money collected through Empire State sales tax than expected.

“We followed through on our commitment to deliver meaningful relief to hard-working New Yorkers, and will continue, every day, to look for additional opportunities to deal with the nation’s ongoing affordability challenge,” Hochul said in a statement.

Hochul’s office said the main phase of the mailing out inflation refunds is now complete. A small number of additional checks will be mailed out in the coming weeks as the State Tax Department determines eligibility.

To qualify, New York residents must have filed a state income tax return for the 2023 tax year and have an adjusted gross income (AGI) of less than $150,000 for single filers or $300,000 for joint filers. Those who did not file taxes, earned more than those amounts, or were claimed as dependents are not eligible.

Payments for qualified recipients were $400 for families or joint tax filers who make less than $150,000; $300 for families making between $150,000.01 and $300,000; $200 for individuals making less than $75,000; and $150 for individuals making between $75,000.01 and $150,000.

Checks were issued automatically by the state Department of Taxation and Finance using data from 2023 tax returns. The state says the checks are considered taxable income by the federal government, but not New York.

Here is a breakdown of how many inflation refund checks were sent out in each New York state region and their total benefits:

  • New York City: 3.536 million ($828.8 million)
  • Long Island: 1.251 million ($316.4 million)
  • Mid-Hudson: 924,000 ($234.2 million)
  • Western New York: 585,000 ($152.7 million)
  • Finger Lakes: 513,000 ($134.3 million)
  • Capital Region: 475,000 ($122.8 million)
  • Central New York: 321,000 ($83.8 million)
  • Southern Tier: 251,000 ($66.7 million)
  • Mohawk Valley: 198,000 ($52.4 million)
  • North Country: 156,000 ($42.4 million)
  • TOTAL: 8.21 million ($2.035 billion)