Property tax bills would stay the same for most Philly homeowners next year under Mayor Parker’s budget plan

Most Philadelphia property owners are likely to see their real estate tax bills stay the same next year due to Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s proposal to keep the tax rate unchanged and the Office of Property Assessment’s decision to forego a citywide revaluation this year.

Finance Director Rob Dubow said Wednesday that OPA is skipping a reassessment this year because it is tied up with appeals from last year, when the city reassessed all of Philadelphia’s roughly 580,000 properties for the first time in two years, resulting in increased valuations for thousands of owners.

“There are a number of appeals,” Dubow said following a City Council hearing on the administration’s tax plans. “The same people who do the valuation work on the appeals. It’s just a workload issue. OPA is working on the appeals.”

Property owners must pay their tax bills each year by March 31. The tax bills that people will pay by next week’s deadline reflect assessments from last year, when OPA revalued all parcels in the city. The city’s decision to skip a citywide reassessment this year means that most property owners will pay the same amount for tax bills due March 31, 2026, as they are paying now.

Dubow said the city plans to complete a citywide reassessment next year, which would affect bills due March 31, 2027.

Property owners who believe their assessments are inaccurate can file a formal appeal with the Board of Revision of Taxes or ask OPA for a first-level review, which is an informal process that allows the city to correct any obvious errors noted by the owners.

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Appeals are generally higher after a multiyear gap in citywide reassessments, as many property owners experience sticker shock from revaluations that capture more than a year’s worth of growth in the real estate market.

Chief Assessment Officer James Aros Jr. said Wednesday the BRT received more than 11,000 appeals after last year’s reassessment, and OPA received about 20,000 requests for first-level reviews.

Although OPA is not conducting a citywide reassessment this year, some properties could see their assessments altered due to individual circumstances, such as major renovations or a sale that reveals improvements to the property that were not previously known to OPA.

The real estate tax rate is 1.3998% of assessed value, and it has not changed since 2016. City Council is unlikely to deviate from Parker’s proposal to leave it unchanged once more.

Fifty-six percent of revenue produced by the tax goes to the School District of Philadelphia, and 44% goes to the city. The tax is projected to produce about $930 million for the city this year, making it Philly’s second-biggest local tax behind the wage tax.

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The homestead exemption tax break allows homeowners to deduct $100,000 from the assessed value of the property they live in. For people whose home is worth less than $100,000, the exemption effectively allows them to pay nothing. Residents must apply for the homestead exemption, and the city has perennially struggled to ensure that homeowners are aware they’re eligible.

The city hasn’t changed the property tax rate since 2016, but rising assessments have led to significantly higher tax bills for most owners during that time. In addition to the homestead exemption, the city offers several other tax breaks meant to ensure people are not displaced by increased tax bills, including the Senior Citizen Tax Freeze, the Active Duty Tax Credit, the Longtime Owner-Occupants Program, and the Low-Income Real Estate Tax Freeze, which was created by City Council last year.