Philadelphia homeowners are about to find out what their properties are really worth in the city’s eyes, and many will not love the number. In the coming weeks, updated property-assessment notices will start landing in mailboxes, setting the values that will be used to calculate real estate tax bills in March 2027. For most residents those new numbers will be higher than the ones mailed more than two years ago, which could mean noticeably larger tax bills. Once the notices arrive, owners will have a fairly short runway to decide whether to appeal, sign up for relief programs, or work out how they will cover the bill.
As reported by WHYY, the Office of Property Assessment plans to post the full set of updated values online by the end of June and begin mailing Notices of Proposed Valuation in the coming weeks. These mailers are not tax bills, but they do lock in the taxable values the city will rely on to calculate upcoming real estate taxes.
How to challenge the number
Homeowners who think the city overshot on their new valuation get two free ways to push back. One is a First Level Review, which is an informal check with the Office of Property Assessment. The other is a formal market-value appeal to the Board of Revision of Taxes.
The First Level Review is paperwork only, with no hearing. Owners submit documentation to show why the proposed value is off, such as recent appraisals or sales of similar homes. City guidance walks through how to file and what counts as solid evidence, according to the Office of Property Assessment.
Programs that can blunt the hit
The city also has several relief tools meant to soften tax increases rather than fight the value itself. The homestead exemption cuts a homeowner’s taxable value by $100,000. The Longtime Owner-Occupants Program, or LOOP, can cap how much an assessment can jump for eligible owners who meet rules about how long they have lived in the home, their income, and how large the increase is…