Philadelphia sends 25,000 letters warning of property tax appeal backlog

There is such a backlog on property tax appeals in Philadelphia that 25,000 people have been told they should consider filing their second-level appeal even before the first one is even considered.

There are lots more appeals this year because Philadelphia just re-assessed every property. The filing deadline for a second-level appeal is October 7 and Mayor Michael Nutter’s spokesman Mark McDonald says about half of the roughly 50,000 requests for review have been completed.

“Twenty-one thousand five hundred twenty-nine resulted in no market value change,” McDonald said. “In 3,103 properties there were changes and they amounted to decreases just shy of $500 million, in addition there were 61 properties where the market value increased.”

McDonald says the remaining 25,000 property owners have been notified of the coming deadline.

“They have that avenue and if they feel that their property was grossly misassessed, then they have that avenue available to them,” he said.

McDonald says the first-level reviews are expected to be finished by the end of the year.