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Pennsylvania Property Tax Updates

UPDATED March 2025

Pennsylvania Legislator Proposes Cyclical Reassessment System

In January 2025, Pennsylvania State Senator Wayne Fontana announced that he plans to introduce legislation to move Pennsylvania to a cyclical reassessment system, as is the system in nearly every other state.

This is good news for taxpayers and other stakeholders. Pennsylvania is the only state in the United States to have a “base year” system under which counties can choose to stay in their “base year” (last year of the countywide reassessment) indefinitely. The State of Delaware - the only other state which had a base year system – in a decision by its highest court -- declared in May 2020 that a base year system of assessment is unconstitutional.

Due to Pennsylvania’s base year system, it is not uncommon for counties to fail to reassess for decades or more. The Pennsylvania County with the oldest reassessment year is Franklin County (south central Pennsylvania) which last reassessed in 1961. Pennsylvania is also one of a handful of states that allows government bodies to file increase assessment appeals (labeled “illegal spot appeals” in most states).  These two factors taken together – a county’s failure to reassess coupled with a school district’s right to “cherry pick” some taxpayers for increase appeals – leads to, as a practical matter, a disparate tax experience (especially for commercial taxpayers who tend to be the targets of school increase appeals) and a complete lack of uniformity in taxation, contrary to Pennsylvania ‘s Constitution.

APTC Western Pennsylvania Representative Sharon F. DiPaolo, Esquire, CRE, was invited to testify at Senator Fontana’s July 2024 hearing on the need for cyclical reassessment in Pennsylvania.  Ms. DiPaolo’s testimony called for cyclical reassessment to address the best practices of tax policy, namely, fundamental fairness, transparency, and consistency. As of this writing, the proposed legislation is in the process of being drafted. Siegel Jennings will advise of developments as they occur.

In the meantime, to discuss the specifics of this proposed legislation or your property tax needs in Pennsylvania, please reach out to:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.Siegel Jennings, Co., L.P.A.
American Property Tax Counsel (APTC)

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