The Philadelphia Inquirer laid out three possible reform scenarios for the Bureau of Revision of Taxes in yesterday’s newspaper. We wanted to know what you think about them. Here they are.

1 - Change how BRT Board Members are appointed. Instead of letting judges decide, let the Mayor of Philadelphia and City Council appoint members.

2 - Abolish BRT as we know it. Move property assessors under the Finance Department and create a separate appeals board.

3 - Abolish BRT as we know it. Turn over operations to the State.

From the Inquirer’s investigative series “Tax Travesty” we know that some Philadelphians are paying way too much in property taxes, and others not enough. In fact, some of the disparities can even be seen on the same city block. The problem is not the local property tax rate, which is set by City Council, but the behind closed doors approach of assessing what a property’s value is.

So, here are my questions for you.

1 - Out of the three reform scenarios above which one would you prefer?

2 - Should the City still move ahead with re-assessing properties using the BRT’s new numbers?

(my other two questions appear to be irrelevant. The Mayor reportedly has backed off his call for a property tax hike)

3 - Do you think Mayor Michael Nutter’s call for a temporary two-year property tax hike should be dumped because the current BRT assessments are unfair?

4 - Since we are already paying property taxes under the “broken” system, What would be so bad about raising the tax rate for two-years? (we’re going to pay higher taxes in some form i.e. sales, wage or other)