Councilman Urges Continuation of Property-Tax-Hike Pause Button For Cases Under Appeal
By Mike Dunn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- City Council will consider extending a key provision for property owners who are appealing their property tax assessments.
The citywide reassessment of property values two years ago, dubbed "AVI," led to a backlog of appeals. That left some homeowners having to pay the new bill before their appeal was heard.
So, last year, City Council and Mayor Nutter approved a bit of a break: if an appeal of the new assessment is not resolved by the time tax bills were due, they could pay the original, pre-assessment tax amount, then settle up when the appeal is later resolved.
Now, one year later, with hundreds of appeals still yet to be heard, Councilman Bobby Henon proposes extending that provision by an extra eighteen months.
"The bill will have the homeowners assessed at the 2013 rate, which is fair. It's what we did last year, until their hearing is heard," he said.
Originally, the provision applied to anyone who appealed an assessment by March 30, 2013. This proposed extension would cover appeals filed between March 31, 2013, and October 6th of last year.
And Henon says the extension would apply to both residential and commercial properties.
"It gives a chance for the citizens to have their case be heard, argued, and have their new rates be set," he told KYW Newsradio.
The measure will be debated in committee, most likely as part of the Council's entire review of the mayor's proposed budget for the coming fiscal year.