Pennsport: Neighbors React to Actual Value Initiative
With the reassessment of property values due to the Actual Value Initiative, some lifelong residents are seeing their property taxes go up. Several assessments have tripled the property value, and some residents are worried they may have to leave their homes. The Actual Value Initiative (AVI) is a program which is supposed to accurately assess […]
Pennsport: AVI Assessments Take a Toll on Homeowners
With the Actual Value Initiative (AVI) raising property taxes throughout the city, many Philadelphia homeowners are wondering exactly why and how this is happening. The main goal of AVI was supposed to be a reassessment of all the properties in the city at their current market value. The Actual Value Initiative reflects the value at […]
Axis Philly: University City Landlord Endorses Gradual Tax Increases
One possibility that City Council is considering is the gradual application of the property tax reassessments throughout the course of three years. A bill proposed by Councilman Mark Squilla of the 1st District would do just that by taking the taxes collected the previous year and adding a percentage of the increases – 25 percent […]
Axis Philly: Candidates for City Controller Talked About AVI
The primary election for the city’s chief financial auditor is May 21. There are two candidates on the forefront of AVI. Incumbent Alan Butkowtiz said his office believes that there are more errors with property assessments under AVI than there were before. Candidate Brett Mandel has a history with AVI. He was a Plaintiff in […]
Axis Philly: University City Homeowners Reflect on Politics of Relief Measures
Residents of University City discuss their projected tax increases and how it will affect their political positions.
Axis Philly: Residents of Saint Albans Street Express Concerns About Real Estate Valuations
Residents throughout Graduate Hospital have expressed concern about the lack of fairness and accuracy in property value reassessments under AVI, regardless of how long they have resided in the neighborhood. “I was born and raised here,” said Shirley Peterson. She attended the Thomas Durham School at 16th and Lombard streets, which is now Independence Charter, […]
Axis Philly: AVI Impact Uncertain, but Likely Minimal, on University City District
University City is projected to see some of the most dramatic property tax increases in the city under Actual Value Initiative. For the University City District, it isn’t exactly clear what the overall effects of this will be. Most of its finances come from large donors like Penn University and Drexel University, both of whom […]
Axis Philly: Property Taxes are Frozen Only for Seniors
In order to protect low-income senior citizens from increases in their property value and the tax rate, the city provides an application to freeze property tax at its current level. But not all citizens who are on a fixed low-income qualify for the property tax freeze program. “People on disability just don’t meet certain criteria,” […]
Axis Philly: Are Tax Exemptions and Abatements Beneficial?
Many people are concerned about the re-evaluation of all 579,000 properties in Philadelphia, including those that are tax exempt, with some questioning whether the benefits of nonprofit tax exemptions and residential tax abatements outweigh the negative impact on the city. “The gentrification of the area — you owe that to Kenny Gamble [founder of Universal […]
Axis Philly: Penn Student Says AVI May Affect Housing Choices
When Charles Burke, a junior architecture major at Penn University, first heard about the Actual Value Initiative – the reassessment of every property in the city of Philadelphia done with the intention of rooting the base amount property taxes are paid on directly to the market value of a property – he said he thought […]