By: John K. Fiorillo
It’s that time of year again. The deadline for appealing tax assessments in Montgomery, Delaware, Chester and Bucks Counties is August 1, 2016. Any reduction is effective January 1, 2017. The deadline for Philadelphia is the first Monday of October. Your real estate taxes support your local school district, county and in many instances, your local municipality. Two things factor into your real estate taxes; your tax rate and your assessment. The tax rate is a political matter and one that only your local school board, county commissions and municipal officials can address. The assessment is a different story. Your assessment is supposed to represent a specified percentage of the fair market value of your property. The ratios for 2017 have just been published. Montgomery County is 56.1%. Chester County is 53.8%. Delaware County is 65%. Bucks County is 11.1%. For other counties, here is a link for the common level ratios.
If you are assessed at a higher percentage of your fair market value than the average for your county, you should consider an appeal. For example, if you live in Montgomery County and your home has a fair market value of $1,000,000, your assessed value should be $561,000. If your assessed value is higher than that, then you should consider an appeal.
You have the right to challenge your assessment on an annual basis. We can quickly determine whether your property is over assessed and explain the appeal process. Simply pull out your current or most recent tax bill and call us with your assessment. It will be listed on your bill. If you do have the bill available, we can look up your assessment for you and help you determine if you are paying too much. A simple phone call could result in significant savings that will compound year after year. There is no cost for this phone call. Please contact John K. Fiorillo for more information.
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