Taxpayers in Pennsylvania once again have an annual opportunity to appeal the assessed value of property.  Deadlines for these appeals vary by county, but most are  August 1 while some of the smaller counties are  September 1, so now is the time to analyze your assessment to determine whether you may be able to have it lowered to reduce your tax burden. In order to properly analyze your assessment, you must have an idea of what your property is actually worth.  That is, what is the price at which you would be able to sell it to a willing buyer?  Once you have made that determination, you must then apply your county’s applicable common level ratio to your assessed value in order to determine the “implied market value.”  If the “implied market value” from your assessment is higher than what you believe your property is worth, your assessment is likely too high and you are paying more property tax than is warranted.

Please note that for property located in City of Philadelphia the deadline to file your 2014 tax year appeal is the first Monday of October, which October 7, 2013. Philadelphia has just conducted a full reassessment of all property in the City so that every parcel of land has a new assessment based on a ratio of 100%. Therefore, if your 2014 assessment is $1,000,000 that indicates the City has placed a fair market value of $1,000,000 on your property.