Around the Block: 9/13/24

Hey Readers,

ALL PHILLY PROPERTY OWNERS need to know that Philly’s 2025 PROPERTY TAX APPEALS DEADLINE IS MONDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2024.

The deadline is in about three weeks, and there is a lot to unpack here.

First, is it worthwhile to appeal? You never know for sure because, just like the assessments themselves, the appeal decisions can be all over the map. But I can state a few fairly obvious points to consider:

1. If your assessment is overvalued, it is probably worth an appeal. And the more overvalued it is, the better chance of winning your appeal and for a more substantial decrease. Also, if not overvalued, another avenue for appeal is if your property is out of line with similar neighbors (i.e., uniformity) or if the OPA has incorrect information about your home (i.e., characteristics). Again, the more obvious the difference, the better chance for a winning and worthwhile appeal.

2. If your property is undervalued, do not appeal. This might seem obvious, but some property owners want to appeal if their assessment has significantly increased, even if it remains undervalued. Please note that the size of an increase is not grounds for an appeal. The only grounds for an appeal are value, uniformity, or incorrect property characteristics. So, a severely under-assessed property that sees a large increase but still remains under-assessed is theoretically not a viable appeal candidate. I say theoretically because you never know what the appeal hearing will ultimately decide.

3. If you are not sure whether to appeal, please see the information on InCenter below. That is a superb and quick place to start. Or reach out to me, and we can discuss. It may be a close call without a definitive answer, but we can at least discuss the plusses and minuses and various options.

Second, there are two types of appeal: a first-level review with the Office of Property Assessment (OPA) and a full appeal with the Board of Revision of Taxes. The deadline for both is October 7th and as far as I understand, the best bet is to do both. As the names imply, the first level is less formal and quicker, while the BRT full review is a longer process. Note that everything is relative, and expect either appeal to take a very long time.

So, you think you may have grounds for appeal? Let’s go over your options:

The three basic options for pursuing an appeal are to (1) hire a law firm experienced in handling Philadelphia property assessments, (2) handle the appeal yourself by hiring an appraiser experienced in tax appeals, or (3) contact InCenter. If you choose to go the attorney or do-it-yourself route, I can recommend an experienced law firm and superb appraisers. Often, InCenter will be your easiest, most straightforward option.

InCenter will provide a free, no-obligation professional review of your current assessment and advise whether your property taxes are accurately assessed. If InCenter determines your assessment is high, you then have the option of retaining them to handle the appeal. Incenter handles all appeals on a contingency basis. So, there is no cost to you unless InCenter wins the appeal. If they do win (and they state they virtually always win), their fee is 50% of your tax savings for the first year. All subsequent years’ savings stay 100% with the property owner. So that is it. No risk. No work. Nothing to do but see if InCenter can lower your 2025 property taxes. Also, once you engage InCenter, they will automatically check your assessment in future years and let you know if they are high and if an appeal would be worthwhile.

Please know that I have no affiliation with InCenter (nor does the City Block Team or Compass), and I get nothing from your use of their services. Okay, actually, I do get one thing: the opportunity to help clients and ATB readers save some money on their real estate taxes or, at the very least, have confidence that their assessment is not too high, and they are not missing an opportunity to appeal. By the way, I did try InCenter for my home. They correctly determined my assessment was fair. I knew that going in, but I wanted to check it out.

A note on InCenter—For many homeowners, their service will offer the easiest and most efficient way to app/eal your taxes. However, in two circumstances, this may not be the case. One is if your overassessment is so obvious and enormous that their 50% cut may be well in excess of what you would pay an attorney and/or appraiser. If you are unsure of this and want to discuss, then let me know. Second, would your appeal be based on non-uniformity or incorrect characteristics or involve some more nuanced situation? InCenter is set up to handle overassessments but not other reasons for appeal. If this is the case, then an attorney will probably be your best bet.

If you want InCenter to evaluate your 2025 tax assessment, there are two ways to get in contact with them: You can email me directly with your contact information, and I will forward it to InCenter on your behalf. I am set up to do this easily. Or, you can go to InCenter’s website and submit your information there yourself. Either way, you can visit their website to check out their exact procedures, fees, and other information. I can also put you in touch with them directly if you want to correspond with a live person.

Finally, if anyone has any specific questions for me or prefers the appraiser/attorney approach, please just reach out, and I can help with that as well.

I hope you have a great weekend.

Thank you,

Jeff