Philly’s property tax assessment system is broken. Here are four ways to fix it.

As part of his final budget address, Mayor Jim Kenney announced that the Office of Property Assessment will not reassess properties for the coming year, to focus instead on a backlog of assessment appeals.

This one-year pause follows the first citywide reassessment since 2019, conducted in 2022 for taxes due in 2023. As a result of that assessment, the value of residential properties increased by an average of 31%. But many homeowners — especially those in low-income and majority-Black neighborhoods — saw much larger increases, leaving many worried that they wouldn’t be able to afford to live in their own neighborhoods once the property tax bill arrived.

While this pause makes sense, the city should continue annual reassessments, as required by law, so homeowners do not experience sticker shock once again in coming years. More importantly, the city must make a long-term commitment to improving the entire assessment process. Here’s how.

A recent Inquirer analysis revealed that properties are more likely to be overassessed in neighborhoods with lower median incomes and with more Black residents. This means that some lower-income residents are paying more than their fair share of property taxes, while wealthier property owners pay less.

This does not mean that the Office of Property Assessment is intentionally misassessing properties in low-income and majority-Black neighborhoods. But a city that has committed to “budgeting for racial equity” must carefully watch for and correct any systemic bias that leads to disparate outcomes.

To get there, the city should fund a yearly, independent study for the next three years to track its progress in increasing racial equity in tax assessments. To ensure that progress continues over the long term, Philadelphia should repeat the study at least once every three years.

The Office of Property Assessment uses various data points when assessing properties, but only publishes a general overview of its methodology.

This leaves many homeowners confused about how the city arrived at their new assessed value, which prevents them from identifying errors or what issues to raise on appeal.

Soon after releasing new assessments each year, the city should publish all underlying supporting data and furnish property owners with detailed information about their own assessments. Increased transparency will increase confidence in the city’s assessment system.

Even though some owners of lower-value properties are more likely to be paying more than their fair share of taxes, those owners are also the least likely to challenge their assessments through appeals. This compounds the equity issues already plaguing the assessment system.

In addition to simplifying and streamlining the information and paperwork required to file appeals, the city should create a position within the Office of Property Assessment to help homeowners navigate the appeals process so they are not left to fend for themselves. This position could be modeled on the city’s division in the Department of Revenue dedicated to helping taxpayers who need tax relief get appropriate information and assistance in applying.

Even with all the reforms listed above, low-income homeowners will continue to see dramatic increases in their property tax bills because of rapidly rising property values, especially in neighborhoods such as Point Breeze and Norris Square. No one should have to face the threat of losing their home because they are suddenly house-rich and cash-poor.

City Council’s 2022 property tax relief package protected many senior and longtime homeowners from dramatic property tax increases, but it leaves many other low-income homeowners at risk of displacement because they can’t afford their rising tax bills.

The best way to avoid displacement of our most vulnerable homeowners is to pass a bill introduced by Council President Darrell L. Clarke last spring that would create a tax freeze for certain low-income homeowners, protecting them from year-to-year increases in their property tax bills.

A fair and accurate assessment system is good for everyone — both homeowners and the city. Given rising property values, a more accurate assessment system captures more revenue for essential city services, while targeted tax relief and a commitment to equity will ensure that low-income homeowners are not paying more than their fair share for those services.

Jonathan Sgro, Kate Dugan, and Monty Wilson are attorneys in the homeownership and consumer rights unit at Community Legal Services of Philadelphia.