Realty Nena

Philly’s Office of Property Assessments caused a lot of stress when they released the new property taxes after a three year hiatus.

Many homeowners saw spikes of over 30% in property values. Some worry they may be pushed out of their developing neighborhoods.

So, after what must have been an expected uproar and pushback from property-owners, Mayor Kenney signed some tax relief bills. Shoutout to City Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson who introduced all three. Many of his colleagues supported them as well.

Due to supply chain issues with envelopes, city officials have said residents won’t receive their new tax assessments in the mail until sometime in September. But you can look up an estimate of your 2023 property taxes on the city’s website right here and now!

If you don’t like what you see in that estimate, let’s explore some of your tax-relief options for your property below.

Homestead Exemption

The bill, which was also pushed by City Council, is immediately in effect. Now residents in the Homestead Exemption program will have $80,000 deducted from their property’s value. This is almost double the old deduction amount of $45,000. If you’re already under the Homestead program, it will automatically adjust for you. If you want to learn about how you can enroll in the Homestead Exemption program, visit the city’s page on it here.

The deadline to apply for the homestead exemption is Dec. 1.

Longtime Owner Occupants Program

Kenney is also supposed to expand eligibility for Philadelphia’s Longtime Owner Occupants Program, or LOOP. The city created LOOP for low-to-moderate income homeowners in gentrifying neighborhoods to avoid displacement.

Residents who qualify could have their property value permanently frozen at 175% of the lowest assessment issued in the past five tax years. (It used to be 150%)

For example, if the city assessed the home at $100,000 in 2022, the property value in 2023 could not exceed $150,000.

This could only happen if a homeowner’s property value had jumped at least 50% after the homestead exemption was deducted. That’s no longer the case, enabling more residents to take advantage of the revamped program.

In the short-term, the homestead exemption will provide a bigger discount. The LOOP program is set up to save homeowners more money in the long-term. To find out if you would qualify for LOOP, visit the city’s page on it here.

The deadline for LOOP is now Sept. 30, 2023.

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Senior Citizen Real Estate Tax Freeze

Income qualifying homeowners will be able to retroactively enroll in the program. Generally it’s for low-income residents who are 65 and older. This means that if someone is 70, they can freeze their property value at the number it was when they were 65.

You can read more about the eligibility for this program on the city’s website here.

The Catch – Philly’s Schools

With many property owners paying less in real estate taxes — that means less funding for the Philadelphia School District.

This year alone, the changes will result in $25 million less than laid out in the SDP’s adopted budget, per Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Some on City Council advocated against the tax-relief measures for this reason.

“Failing to protect the School District of Philadelphia from the budget shortfalls that this will cause in 2-3 years when federal relief funding runs out is a mistake that could have been avoided.”

Councilmember Kendra Brooks in a statement, noting that the vast majority of American Rescue Plan Act federal funds are projected to be used by the end of fiscal year 2024.

Unfortunately, instead of reallocating the loss of funds from other areas in the budget, the Mayor and City Council have left the budget and bills written in a way that the School District takes a cut. Hopefully the city can still make adjustments this year – but keep this in mind if you’ll be at any school conferences.