2011 County And Township Tax Bills
Tax season has arrived, Nether Providence Township and Delaware County tax bills are in, and the 2% discount period expires on April 1, 2011. As home values have decreased over the past several years the question if often asked – What is involved in appealing my taxes? There is a misconception that you need a lawyer, and that is an option, but the process is not that complicated.
As a homeowner in Wallingford, Nether Providence Township you have the privilege to pay tax bills on an annual basis. You also have an opportunity to appeal their assessment once a year. By appealing, the property is open to the re-valuation process in which the property assessment may be lowered, raised or remain the same. An assessment is a percentage of the market value of the which is the foundation that taxing authorities use to determine the amount of real estate taxes based on their tax rates.
Remember, in the case of an annual appeal, the Board decision does not take effect until tax bills are issued the following tax year – an successful appeal in 2011 will be reflected in your 2012 taxes. Annual appeals – an Appeal Of Total Assessment – may be filed from March 15 through August 1.
The process is relatively simple. The first step is to obtain an Annual Appeal Form. The form is available beginning March 15, 2012 in one of the following ways:
- Calling the Assessment Office at 610-891-4879
- Visiting the Office at 201 West Front Street Media, PA 19063
- Download the form – 2012 Annual Appeal Form
Complete the form, and mail – Faxing is not permitted, remember this is the government – or drop off the form and an $50.00 check.
Mailing Address:
Board Of Assessments And Appeals
Government Center Building
201 West Front Street
Media, PA 19063
The Process
A residential Annual Appeal hearing lasts about 5 minutes. The hearings are held in the Board Of Assessment Department Board Room, located on the ground floor of the Government Center Building. The property owner has the opportunity to present such information as a recent appraisal or recent sales documentation for sales of similar homes in their area. The property owner may also present other information that may have an impact on the value of the property.
The property owner should provide front and rear photographs of the home. Photographs should be within the last 6 months, and are to include any recent physical changes to the exterior of the property. Failure to bring these photographs on your appeal date may result in an unnecessary delay in processing the appeal.
Applicants are requested to attend but if unable to do so, may send someone to provide the representation with a letter of authorization. If more than one person owns the property jointly it is not necessary that all the owners appear at the hearing. The hearings are held in September and October. Notification of the hearing date and time is mailed at least 20 days in advance of the scheduled hearing.
The Board consists of 3 members appointed by the County Council and generally renders a decision within 3-4 weeks of the hearing date. The results of Annual Appeals are mailed to the property owner on November 15.
Based upon the documentation provided by the property owner, the Board will determine a fair market value for the property. The Board will then by statute, apply the appropriate Common Level Ratio or CLR, to the fair market value to arrive at the new assessed value.
By law all properties within the County must be “uniformly” assessed at a similar ratio. All taxes must be uniform on the same class of properties within the geographical limit of the taxing authority. The guiding principle in matters of valuation is that no one taxpayer should pay anymore or less than their proportionate share of the cost of government.
So the formula used to arrive at the Assessed Value is:
Market Value x Common Level Ratio = Assessment
All properties in Delaware County are assessed at the same ratio to market value. Currently assessments are set at 100% of 1998 base year value.
So what do Common Level Ratio and Market Value mean?
Common Level Ratio
The CLR is created by the Pennsylvania State Tax Equalization Board – STEB – on an annual basis for each county. The CLR is an average of assessments to sale prices, based upon valid sales activity in Delaware County for the prior calendar year.
The Common Level Ratio for Delaware County is currently 1.56
Market Value
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has defined Market Value as:
the price in a competitive market a purchaser, willing but not obligated to buy, would pay an owner, willing but not obligated to sell, taking into consideration all the legal uses to which the property can be adapted and might reasonably be applied.
In other words market value represents the what a buyer would be willing and able to pay for a home in the current market.
To establish the “actual” value of property, the county may use current year market values or it may adopt a base year for market values. For the most part, properties are assessed at a set percentage of a base year value, which in Delaware County is 1998. Property is only assessed at current market value when a countywide reassessment has been conducted and implemented. Unless the County reassesses all properties every year, the property assessments will be predicated upon the base year value.
The assessment laws state that “the price at which any property may actually have been sold in the base year or the current tax year is to be considered but is not controlling. Such selling prices can be increased or decreased as part of the valuation process to accomplish equalization with other similar property within the taxing district.” Recent sales of comparable properties are persuasive but not conclusive in helping to establish the market value. The properties selected need not be identical. Sale prices are useful in showing relative values by bringing out similar or dissimilar traits.
Tax Computation
With all that said, the bottom line in computing taxes involves the millage rate for the taxing authority. The millage rate is the amount of tax that is applied to every $1,000 dollar of assessed value:
Assessed Value x Millage Rate = Tax
The Nether Providence millage rate for 2011 is 4.090 – for every $1,000 increment of assessed value of your home you will pay the Township $4.09.
For an assessed value of $149,490:
149.49 x 4.09 = $611.41
The millage rate for Delaware County is 5.180 mills. For every $1,000 increment of assessed value of your home you will pay the County $5.18.
For the same assessed value of $149,490:
149.49 x 5.180 = $774.35
So if you are considering a tax appeal, it is recommended that you order an appraisal for your home, and examine what the taxes and assessments are for your area. I would be glad to provide information on both.
