Philadelphia nominates replacement for BRT

His challenge: bring property assessments in line with reality

Philadelphia will soon have a new Chief Assessment Officer. The nominee admits there’s a lot of work to do getting property assessments to reflect real-world values in the city.

Richie McKeithen has been nominated by Mayor Michael Nutter to be the city’s first Chief Assessment Officer. He comes from Washington, DC where he was responsible for review of 190,000 parcels of property. He admits there is a great deal of work to do in Philadelphia.

“First things first I would come in and do some analysis of what is there what’s actually can be salvaged and get in and evaluate the staff and see what processes that we are running versus what things that need to be done.”

McKeithen still needs to be confirmed by City Council. The process is also underway to appoint members of the Board of Property Assessment Appeals. That board will be independent of the accessor and hear all challenges to valuations.