The Philadelphia Office of Property Assessment (“OPA”) has announced that it will be issuing new “Actual Value Initiative” reassessments for every property in Philadelphia in February. Therefore, every property owner in Philadelphia should be on the lookout for the reassessment notice.

The “Actual Value Initiative” intends to value each parcel to reflect the actual market value of the property as of February 1, 2013. This initiative comes on the heels of many months of confusion over common level ratios, rulings by the State Tax Equalization Board, and eventual state legislation over the ratios. The reassessment as a result of this initiative will take all the mystery over ratios out of the process. Because each property will be reassessed, however, property owners should examine their notices closely to make sure that the reassessed value represents the actual value of the property.

A property owner who disagrees with the value placed on a property may request an informal review from the OPA, using a form that will be provided along with the reassessment. The form will allow the property owner to provide additional information for the OPA’s consideration. If the OPA does not provide satisfactory relief to the property owner, a formal appeal may be filed with the Philadelphia Board of Revision of Taxes on or before the annual appeal deadline of October 7, 2013.

If you own property in Philadelphia and have any questions, please contact a member of the McNees SALT team.