Residential properties, as a whole, will pay $72 million dollars more next year than they did this year, while commercial properties, as a whole, will pay $55 million less, under the Actual Value Initiative. A Pew Charitable Trusts report found that, as expected, the AVI would shift more of Philly's property tax burden onto homeowners' shoulders.
Though the headline sounds shocking, this is what AVI was always meant to do. Why? Residential property assessments were far more out of date than commercial property assessments throughout the city.
The author of the study noted that, "commercial and industrial properties were over assessed relative to the citywide average," so it makes sense that the AVI would shift some of the burden off of them.
What about tax-abated properties? They'll also be paying less: collectively, tax abated properties will contribute $3 million less to the property tax pool. This is also attributable to the fact that most tax abated properties have more up-to-date assessments than older residential properties, but it still won't go over too well with critics of the tax abatements, who feel that they unfairly reward developers and, you know, yuppies.
· Pew: New assessments redistribute Philly property-tax burden [News Works]
· Pew Study: Residential Property Owners Will Pay Bigger Chunk Of Taxes Under AVI [CBS Philly]
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