Here’s how to appeal your Philadelphia property assessment

The deadline to file an appeal to Philadelphia’s semi-annual property assessments is approaching quickly. Homeowners have less than a week to dispute the city’s assessed value of their home.

According to an Inquirer analysis, home values have appreciated by 23% on average citywide under the assessments, which were released in August for the first time since 2022.

Assessed value influences the amount of taxes owed on a property by the March 2025 filing deadline. The amount owed is calculated by multiplying the 1.3998% tax rate by a home’s value. The city estimates property taxes will increase by $330 to $614 on average, depending on whether homeowners are using one of the city’s property tax relief programs.

The Office of Property Assessment (OPA) published its assessments months after the March deadline mandated by law, leaving just about eight weeks between when homeowners could learn the newly assessed value of their home and when they must appeal that value.

With this year’s appeals deadline coming on Oct. 7, here’s what you need to know about how to file a property assessment appeal in Philadelphia.

The Office of Property Assessment published its fresh round of property assessments on Aug. 7 and began mailing notices the same day. Using a computer system, the office estimated the price that properties would sell on the market based on characteristics including size, condition, and the sales prices of comparable properties.

The appeals process lets people who think their properties were incorrectly valued file a dispute with the city.

According to the city, successful appeals have to prove at least one of the following:

Anyone who owns a property, and any tenant who pays the real estate or use and occupancy taxes in part or in whole, can appeal.

If a filer is represented by an attorney or another person allowed to file on the owner’s behalf, that person can lodge the appeal but must first submit a Power of Attorney or Agent Authorization form.

According to the Board of Revision of Taxes, you need:

There are two types of appeals. A first level review is filed with the OPA using so-titled forms mailed to property owners with their assessment notice.

It’s the easiest way to file. And according to appeal data, it’s also been the most popular way to file. Simply fill out the form, attach evidence that proves your property was inaccurately valued, and mail it in. It can take several months to receive a decision back by mail, according to homeowners who have appealed.

After assessments conducted in 2022 for the 2023 tax period, the city received more than 30,000 appeals. About 20,000 of those were submitted to OPA.

In 2023, about 10,000 appeals were filed with the BRT.

This process is also relatively simple, said Monty Wilson, an attorney at Community Legal Services who works with homeowners.

You must complete a form and attach any relevant evidence. But, with a BRT appeal, there’s a hearing before the board. Applicants will be notified 45 to 90 days before the hearing date.

At the hearing, applicants present their evidence and provide “full and complete” details about the market value of the property. During the oral hearing, board members may ask questions of the applicant, or their attorney, or authorized filer.

The wait for a decision on an appeal or for a hearing date can be long. Kingsessing resident Diane Settles, who successfully appealed her 2022 assessment, said it was “months” before she heard back.

“It really was because they’re backlogged,” Settles said.

Nine months after the 2022 reassessments, according to WHYY, the city was still working its way through thousands of appeals applications.