Stay up to date on current News & Issues.
General News
Opportunity zones added to Realtors® Property Resource
Bucks County
Morrisville hears $100M redevelopment plan
Chester County
Affordable homes subject of 2020 Citizen Planners meeting
Delaware County
Clifton Heights sues Upper Darby schools
Montgomery County
Lower Pottsgrove schedules sneak peek at new township building plans
Philadelphia County
Why new houses in Philadelphia (and elsewhere) aren’t made of brick
Ideally, homes are assessed at 100% of their market values. That’s what happens immediately after a countywide reassessment.
But assessment values become inaccurate over time as the real estate market changes. To keep new assessments in line with old ones, the PA Department of Revenue sets a Common Level Ratio factors for each county every July.
For example, Montgomery County has 2019-2020 ratio factor of 2.03, meaning assessments should equal 49.3% of market value. So, a home with a market value of $100,000 would be assessed at about $49,300, and that assessed value would be used to calculate local property tax bills.
Here’s the math behind that percentage:
|
Assessment Market Value |
|
1 2.03 |
|
|
Here are the Common Level Ratios and assessment value percentages for Greater Philadelphia counties:
| 9.4% Bucks County Common Level Ratio factor = 10.64 Last assessment in 1972 |
49.3% Chester County Common Level Ratio factor = 2.03 Last assessment in 1998 |
| 56.5% Delaware County* Common Level Ratio factor = 1.77 Last assessment in 2000 |
49.3% Montgomery County Common Level Ratio factor = 2.03 Last assessment in 1996 |
| 99% Philadelphia County Common Level Ratio factor = 1.01 Ongoing assessments (AVI) |
This recent Philadelphia Inquirer article provides more explanation on assessments and appeals in the Greater Philadelphia region.
* Delaware County is currently conducting a countywide reassessment, the values of which will take effect in 2021. Learn more about that in our blog post: Delco reassessment project: an overview.
