Philadelphia Still Working Through About 8,000 Property Assessment Appeals
After a three-year pause in property assessments that left many Philadelphia property owners in shock due to significant value increases, nearly 20,000 “First Level Reviews” (FLRs) were submitted to the city. However, several months after the submission deadline, a substantial number of property owners are still awaiting responses to their appeals.
As of the third week in August, the Office of Property Assessment (OPA) had made determinations on over 60% of the 19,747 FLRs filed for Tax Year 2023, according to city records. However, there is uncertainty regarding when the remaining appeals will be addressed. These pending appeals could potentially lead to property tax refunds if the city decides to lower the property values.
The city emphasized its commitment to handling FLRs efficiently and accurately, ensuring that each request receives proper review without rushing the process. The timeline for reviewing and resolving FLRs varies based on the information submitted by the property owner, making it challenging to provide a specific completion date.
FLRs typically require homeowners to demonstrate one of the following:
- The estimated market value of their property is either too high or too low.
- The estimated market value is accurate but inequitable.
- The characteristics of their property that affect its value are significantly incorrect.
Property owners who submitted FLRs but did not receive a response by the March 31 deadline for property tax payments were required to pay their bills based on the latest property assessment. These assessments, released in August 2022, resulted in widespread sticker shock, as residential property values increased by an average of 31%. The three-year pause in assessments was partly due to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The city continues to address the backlog of FLRs while striving to ensure fairness and accuracy in property assessments, although the completion timeline remains uncertain for property owners seeking resolution.
