Released: July 16, 2021
Delaware County issued a reminder to County property owners that they have until 4:00 p.m. on August 2, 2021, to file an appeal of their 2022 property tax assessments. Next year’s tax bills are the first due under the County-wide reassessment ordered in 2017 by the Delaware Court of Common Pleas. In 2020, Tyler Technologies, a national company that performed the first and only previous countywide reassessment for Delaware County more than two decades ago, assessed every property using a combination of property records and visual inspections.
“Since the courts first ordered a reassessment in 2017, three things have been true: the reassessment must be revenue neutral for the County, local governments and school districts; individual properties may see their levies rise or decrease even as the overall tax amount remains flat; and there would be ample opportunity to appeal the new valuations,” said Delaware County Councilwoman Christine Reuther. “We are proud that Delaware County is the only county in the region to not raise taxes last year, and the County is adding additional staff to make sure that every property owner has an opportunity to appeal their new assessment if they believe it is incorrect.”
The goal of the court ordered reassessment was to more equitably distribute the tax burden based on July 1, 2019, property values. Under Pennsylvania law, no taxing authority – neither the County nor local school boards – may increase the total amount of taxes collected through an assessment. Individual assessments may change, however, as the value of individual properties rise or fall. The County Council in 2017 (none of whom are still serving) hired Tyler Technologies to perform the updated assessment.
Property owners can appeal their 2022 tax year assessment by submitting the short County property tax assessment appeal form by 4 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 2. For the second year in a row, County Council has waived fees for assessment appeals.
Go to https://delcopa.gov/treasurer/boa.html and scroll down to the link to the 2022 appeals form. If you do not have access to the Internet or a printer, you can pick up a copy of the form at the County’s Assessor’s Office at Government Center or call the Assessor’s Office at 610-891-5127 and ask that one be sent to you. There is no cost to appeal the 2022 assessment. To find out more about the updated assessments, please visit the FAQ on the County’s website at https://delcopa.gov/treasurer/pdf/TaxReassessmentAppealsfaq.pdf
“It is important that anyone who believes their property’s revised valuation is incorrect to file an appeal. It is possible that the outside vendor didn’t have complete information for some properties, made a mathematical error or grouped a given property with an inappropriate group of neighboring properties when it looked at comparable sales data,” said Reuther. “We want everyone to be paying their fair share, and not a penny more, and we need property owners to help the County, local municipalities and school districts get it right.”