Philly Will Not Do Property Reassessments Leaving Values the Same Until 2023!
Philly Will Not Do Property Reassessments Leaving Values the Same Until 2023!
The coronavirus has impacted every sector of business you can think of. However, some things we may not have seen coming. Case in point, property reassessments. The city announced that they will not reassess properties next year citing limitations in their operations due to the pandemic. Therefore, property owners will maintain their current assessments as well as property tax bills.
According to a recent article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, “Citywide reassessments completed in 2018 and 2019 sparked complaints from residents and criticism from City Council after thousands of property owners received substantial tax hikes as a result”
The article added, “The city did not complete a revaluation this year; officials said they were instead focused on implementing a long-awaited technology project known as Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA). Training on that system has been delayed due to the pandemic, city officials said Wednesday. As employees of the Office of Property Assessment worked remotely, other work necessary for a revaluation was also delayed.”
Mayor Jim Kenney weighed in on the matter stating “I’m certain that opting to leave property values at current levels is the prudent action in light of a whole host of factors. It will allow operations that are currently delayed to catch up, and will allow the OPA to ready the new CAMA system for a full reassessment next year — by which point I sincerely hope we will be past the effects of COVID-19.”
There are a few exemptions to this decision. Assessments will still be conducted for those with expiring abatements, subdivisions, new construction, errors in prior assessments or consolidations. Properties that fall into any of these categories will have their new values updated for taxes in 2022. If you fall into any of these categories, the city will send you a notice by March 31st.
