Philadelphia is facing a strange new problem. If you have a corrupt agency that attempts to reform itself, is that really reform?

This has been one nasty week for the Bureau of Revision of Taxes. This is the office that assesses the value of buildings and homes in Philadelphia. This week, The Philadelphia Inquirer ran a three-part series documenting major flaws in how the BRT performs its job. The crux of the series “Tax Travestry” is that politically connected people enjoyed lower property assessments than the rest of us.

Then, yesterday the BRT had to go before City Council for their annual budget review. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s story, Some Council members used the problems at BRT to question whether the agency’s most recent property assessment (unofficial at this point) are reliable.

The conundrum here is that the BRT itself acknowledges that the current assessments that are in use vary wildly and are not a fair basis to set property tax rates. But if the new assessments are better, but Council trashes them because of BRT’s problems, then we’ll never get out of this. Unless, of course, that is exactly what some members of Council are thinking.

It’s expected that the reassessment of property values in Philadelphia will inevitably lead to the rich paying more, and the poor paying less. Even if the city maintains what is called a revenue-neutral approach that property taxes and the city does not receive a windfall from the change. Think of Actual Value assessments as having a “Robin Hood” effect of the citizens. Who will Council side with?

Oh, one more thing. The two investigative reporters Mark Fezlollah and Joe Tanfani who are documenting the BRT’s strange numbers will appear on WHYY’s Radio Times on Thursday, May 7 at 10 a.m.

Related Links:

Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial criticizing Mayor Nutter for continuing to push for a property tax increase even though the current system is considered unfair.

See your home’s assessment from the BRT’s new estimates.

See you home’s assessment under the existing system.

fyi: don’t go nuts if your new assessment is alot higher. City Council and the Mayor are expected to lower the “rate” at which your assessment is taxed.  The current rate is 8.2% of your home’s assessed value. The assessed value is supposed to be about 1/3 of the home’s market value.