Details about this story

• Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
• Date: June 22, 2008
• URL: Read the story
• Bylines: Dylan Purcell , Anthony R. Wood
• Topics: Tax , Real Estate
• Data Types: Local Data
• Description/Excerpt: Of the 400,000 homeowners in Philadelphia, only 3 percent receive property-tax bills based on the true value of their real estate. For the remaining 387,000, the amounts they are charged are wrong, and often wildly so - derived from assessments that, on average, are 39 percent off the mark, according to an analysis by The Inquirer. The appraisals border on the randomness of Ping-Pong balls popped from a lottery machine, with winners and losers. The neighborhoods where assessments are too high, and residents pay too much, include some of the poorest in the city. The most egregiously overassessed houses typically have market values under $69,000; their owners are overbilled $116, on average. The inflated appraisals, however, are not limited to distressed blocks. Nearly the entire Northeast, Mount Airy and Olney are overassessed.
• Methodology: See explainer
• Database or Graphic: Go to site (html)