Philadelphia Property Taxes Are Scheduled to Increase by an Average of 31% in 2023

The City of Philadelphia government has completed its reassessment of nearly 600,000 properties throughout Philadelphia, resulting in higher property value assessments for many affected homeowners in 2023. Kenny, Burns & McGill is appealing many of these tax assessments to make sure its clients do not pay more in taxes than necessary.

Due to several factors (including the COVID-19 pandemic and – most notably – Philadelphia’s new system of assessing property values), property assessments were not conducted for tax years 2021 and 2022, meaning that the 2023 reassessments will come as a big shock to many homeowners.

While the City claims that the “goal of this year’s reassessment is to ensure that assessed values more accurately reflect sales and market forces” [source], the City has not published the methodology behind its reassessments. This means that many long-time Philadelphia residents will be faced with skyrocketing property taxes, but no information about why their taxes are going up in the first place.

Notices of tax assessments are expected to be mailed out to homeowners in September 2022. However, there are already reports that the vendor hired by the City to mail out these important notices is having trouble getting enough envelopes to mail the notices, so whether property owners will actually receive these important notices is yet to be determined.

Will My Philadelphia Property Taxes Be Higher in 2023?

While most homeowners can expect to pay more in taxes in 2023, some homeowners will be paying more than others. Some properties have more than doubled in value in the last two years alone, at least according to the reassessments by the Philadelphia city government. Many properties which have not had any recent renovations have seen huge increases in value, forcing long-time residents to pay drastically more in taxes without any changes to their property.

Philadelphia homeowners can check the assessed value of their property (as well as the current real estate taxes owed) on the Office of Property Assessment (OPA)’s website: https://property.phila.gov/ 

How Do I Appeal My Philadelphia Property Taxes?

The real estate attorneys at Kenny, Burns & McGill have successfully filed, fought, and won many Philadelphia OPA tax appeals in their years of practice. Having an experienced attorney file these appeals on your behalf will ensure that it is filed correctly, on time, and complete with all the information necessary to successfully challenge your Philadelphia real estate taxes.

It is easy to contact our law firm, and we offer free consultations to anyone interested in appealing their 2023 Property Tax Assessment. Learn more about the tax appeal process here or contact us to get started: (215) 423-5500.