Some on council say annual reassessments too much for Philadelphians

A city councilman says Philadelphia’s property reassessment process should be more thoughtful and deliberate. 

Councilman Mark Squilla opposes reassessing all city properties annually, believing the process should take more than a year to complete.

“Now we’re talking about reassessing certain areas,” he said. “There’s a possibility if we assess these up some people are going to be hit with a 10, 15 maybe 20 percent tax increase.”

All properties were reassessed as part of AVI — the Actual Value Initiative.  But reviewing home and property values regularly was envisioned to avoid assessments from getting outdated again.

Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell says stretching out reassessment time could help with the appeals process.

“I like the notion of maybe we can do it every four years.  We’re still getting straight.  I have two staff people still working with people with all the issues that have come up since we did AVI.”

The issue will be front and center when the Office of Property Assessment takes its turn at a city council budget hearing.