Philadelphia has finished reassessing all the properties in the city. You should have received a letter from the Office of Property Assessment (OPA) informing you what an appraiser says your home is worth. Or maybe not.
OPA’s web page states that if you do not receive a notice, it may mean that:
- There has been no change in the total market value of your property, or in the components (taxable and exempt portions) that make up the total market value, from the previous year.
- The property is a vacant lot, and there is no off-property mailing address on file with the OPA.
- The property has an incorrect off-property mailing address on file with the OPA.
By not sending letters to everyone, OPA is limiting the rights of citizens who believe that last year’s assessment was too high. The letter includes a form that is not available online, allowing the homeowner to do a first-level review.
News coverage, based on the information provided by the OPA, may be leading people to draw the wrong conclusions. OPA downplays the amount of increases by saying the assessments average only 3% more. It wasn’t Philadelphia Inquirer reporters Anna Orso, Yaelle Tang, and Lizzie Mulvey looked beyond OPA’s claims that people knew they were being misled. The Inquirer’s “analysis of this year’s property assessment data shows that low-income neighborhoods near gentrifying areas saw the sharpest jumps in valuations compared with the rest of the city.”
The city downplays the burden that the higher increases cause. “Many homeowners in those five neighborhoods are benefiting from a popular city tax break,” said Mayor Parker. She is referring to the homestead exemption — a reduction of $100,000 of the assessed value of the house — on which the real estate tax is calculated.
As Hall Monitor reported last week, and as the city confirmed, 33% of the people eligible for the exemption are not getting it. The city claims that number is “encouraging” and that it will do targeted outreach. However, the has yet to use the same “data mining tools” it used to notify people who were receiving the exemption and did not qualify, to notify people who do qualify but are not getting it. Those enrolled in the program can save $1,400 every year.
The other safeguard, the public is told, is that everyone can appeal the appraiser’s decision. This is where it becomes clear that the entire system is stacked against citizens.
The assessors provide incomplete and/or inaccurate information. A homeowner, without the help of an attorney, will have problems challenging an inaccurate appraisal. The city does not offer free legal counsel for homeowners facing skyrocketing real estate taxes. Hence, the cost of the legal fees becomes a barrier for many people.
There is a first-level review that does not entail a hearing. You can request it by filling out the form in the letter. If you didn’t get the assessment letter, you have to call (215) 686-9200 and ask for a replacement. There is no way to download the form. The form sent will not have a bar code and will not be treated the same way as the form included in the letter. The deadline to file those forms is Sept. 1.
You can also file for a “Formal Review” with the Board of Revision of Taxes (BRT). The deadline is Oct. 5. The BRT is appointed with no direct accountability. You can download the application here.
OPA says to determine assessed values of residential properties, it typically considers several factors, including:
- Size and age of a property
- A property’s location, proximity to amenities, and condition
- Recent sales of similar properties in the area, taking into account differences between properties sold and the property being assessed
The BRT’s web page states:
Property owners who believe the assessed value of their property is incorrect can file an appeal. Assessment appeals should prove at least one of the following:
- The estimated market value of your property is too high or too low.
- The estimated market value of your property is not uniform with similar surrounding properties.
- The characteristics of your property that affect its value are substantially incorrect.
There is no requirement that OPA and/or BRT send you the properties it is comparing to yours. You may receive something four days before your hearing, but unless you know to ask, it will not state what your home is being compared to, the “amenities” they are considering, or the school catchment area.
For the average homeowner, the hearing process is Kafkaesque. There is no information on the OPA or BRT web page helping a taxpayer prepare for the hearing. The homeowner sits by herself, behind plastic with a computer screen. The members of the BRT, OPA’s lawyers and its appraisers, surround them. The taxpayer is given a list of properties her home has been compared to with no time to review it. In fact, she is expected to talk, answer questions, and review the documents at the same time. If she complains, she may receive a letter from BRT’s executive director stating:
“I find that appellants who show up to their hearings argumentative and combative never feel like they get a fair hearing. If you ever file a market value appeal again, please feel free to write the BRT four days prior to the appeal hearing to request a copy of the OPA’s Appeal Answer.”
If you challenge the system, the system may choose to punish you.
While city council is sending a letter of concern regarding the appraisers, they should also review the appeal process and require OPA and BRT to send the information they used to assess the home, two weeks in advance, along with the amenities considered and a brief explanation of the appeal process.
Tilting everything in favor of the higher taxes appears, at the very least, to be self-serving for a government that always wants more tax dollars.
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