Reassessment: 2025- Time After Time
Regarding the City of Philadelphia’s tax year 2025 reassessment, there are two pertinent times, or deadlines, to keep in mind: the Certification Date and the Notice Date.
As I wrote in June, Rob Dubow, the City’s Director of Finance, had been quoted in the Inquirer as saying the City would release its 2025 revised values later in the month. That did not happen. The Inquirer recently followed up and now reports that the City is refusing to speculate further on when the 2025 reassessed values will be released, also remaining silent on reasons for the prolonged delay past the statutory deadline to certify new assessed values, March 31st. That same article quoted a local attorney’s observation that due process only requires that the City provide taxpayers notice of new the new assessments within an appropriate timeframe sufficient to meet due process concerns; however, that is not entirely correct. Aside from generic due process concerns, there is a time after the time for certification (see what I did there?), also established by statute, by which the City must provide notice to taxpayers of new assessed values. Let me explain.
The March 31st deadline is the date established by the statute passed in the run up to the 2014 actual value initiative (AVI) by which the City’s Office of Property Assessment (OPA) must certify the assessed values on the tax roll (i.e., the values assigned to all parcels of real property in the City). See, 53 Pa. C.S. § 8565(c). Accordingly, the March 31st deadline is commonly referred to as the “Certification Date.” This date is especially geared to benefit the City itself, as it allows the Mayor’s office and City Council to determine the revenue generated by a given tax rate for purposes of passing a budget in June. It is, thus, correct to state that there are not really any consequences for the City if it fails to meet the certification date. (Though, as you can see here, it does cause issues with pending appeals into which the new tax year’s assessment should be incorporated following the certification date).
However, the original statutes governing Philadelphia real estate tax assessments, the First Class County Assessment Law, sets a specific time by which the City must notify taxpayers of the new assessed values: “[a]t least ten days prior to the first Monday in October,” the statutory deadline to appeal to the Board of Revision of Taxes (BRT). 72 P.S. § 5341.10(a). I refer to this as the “Notice Date,” which, unlike the Certification Date, is geared to benefit the taxpayer. The notice that must be provided by the Notice Date, as set forth in the statute, is a writing to registered owners of (i) the assessed value, (ii) the applicable ratio of that value that will be taxed (currently 100%), (iii) the prior assessed value and applicable ratio, and (iv) the deadline to file an appeal, which is the first Monday in October (this year, October 7th).
Because the legislature set a drop-dead time by which the City must notify taxpayers of new assessments so there is sufficient time for taxpayers to file an appeal, one could argue that this essentially establishes the timeframe for due process to be served. For example, in response to any argument that a taxpayer didn’t have sufficient notice in which to file an assessment appeal, the City will likely argue, if it met the Notice Date, that it per se satisfied any due process concerns; whereas, if the City did not meet the Notice Date, the taxpayer may be able to successfully argue that due process was per se violated. Of course, the statute establishing the Notice Date only provides that written notice be provided, it does not say how. Standard practice is that the City circulates notice letters, though it also publishes the new values on its website.
You may receive a notice letter any time after new values are published on the website. It is generally the legal rule that notice is established from the date of mailing. However, the postal service has recently had issues with timely deliveries, so much so that Sen. Bob Casey requested an audit. I recall that there were similar issues in the years prior to 2018 that affected property tax appeals. Accordingly, given that notice is generally legally established as of the date of mailing, and the City is also afforded the legal presumption that mail sent out is actually delivered, the onus is really on the taxpayer to (a) be aware of the deadline to appeal (October 7th this year), (b) inquire about your new assessed value(s) prior to that date, and (c) make sure the OPA’s website lists your current address. It is also important to keep the envelope in which notice of your new assessment is mailed, because, sometimes, the date on the notice letter is prior to the Notice Date, but the letter is actually mailed past that date. This will be important if you miss the deadline and have to apply for permission to file untimely.
As I previously wrote, the last time the City conducted a citywide reassessment was in 2022 (for tax year 2023), and it blew the Certification Date then as well. New values were only published in mid-August, after which notice letters began to be sent out. I personally know of one taxpayer, though, who did not receive their notice letter until mid-to-late September, very close to the Notice Date. It is possible, if USPS again has issues, that you could not receive your letter until after the deadline to appeal to the BRT. The Notice Date this year is September 27, 2024. Thus, if you have not received your notice letter by that date or shortly thereafter, you may be best served by just filing an appeal, even if it is a precaution and you eventually withdraw that appeal. It won’t cost you anything but will ensure you don’t miss the October 7th deadline.
In sum, you as a taxpayer need to be aware of the deadline to appeal your tax assessment, irrespective of the City’s obligations under either the Certification or Notice Dates, though being aware of the Notice Date may help you if you inadvertently miss the deadline. And if you want to hire someone to keep track of those deadlines for you, reach out to me.
8/5/24: read about Philadelphia Mayor Parker’s press conference on the 2025 reassessment here.