Delaware County Property Owners Bracing For Controversial Tax Reassessment Results
DREXEL HILL, Pa. (CBS) -- Property owners in Delaware County are bracing themselves for mail they might not want to see. The results are in from a controversial tax reassessment.
It's a process all about fairness. For some, there could be some good news in the mail. For others, not so much.
Out of a small space in a courthouse came a titan of a project -- reassessing every single property in Delaware County. The project cost millions.
The results are expected to generate controversy and disagreement.
"It will be painful for some people, it will be helpful for some and it will be a big shrug for some people," Delaware County Councilwoman Christine Reuther said.
The process of reevaluating properties began five years ago. A judge ordered it after a handful of new construction homeowners appealed their tax bills.
State law maps out an entire county must be reassessed all at once. It's been 20 years since the last one.
The first wave of new reassessments will be dropped in the mail by the end of the week.
Having been through reassessment before, Keller Williams Real Estate broker Dominic Cardone offered his candid analysis of the process.
"So this is going to be a whole lot of hoopla about not much of anything," he said.
Maureen Ingelsby is a longtime realtor in the Drexel Hill area. That's a spot with some of the highest taxes in the area as compared with property values.
"My message is that just take a deep breath. It's something new, just like anything else that's new and consult people who are in the know," Ingelsby said.
Common wisdom about the process is one-third of taxes will go up, one-third of taxes will stay the same and one-third of taxes will go down.
"If when you get this assessment — if it's lower than you think your house is worth -- quite frankly, you shouldn't say anything," Cardone said. "If it's higher than your house is worth, you should go immediately to the informal appeal process."
The first of the mailers will go out later this week, followed by three more installments through March.
A presentation on the project will be held on Feb. 18 at 1 p.m. in the Council Public Meeting Room.
