Delco Property Owners Can Appeal New Tax Assessments

DELAWARE COUNTY, PA — Were you shocked to find your 2022 property tax reassessment value?

Well, residents in Delaware County can appeal their new property tax assessments following the county's massive reassessment project that began several years ago.

Officials said residents have until 4 p.m. Aug. 2 to file an appeal of their 2022 property tax reassessments.

Property owners can appeal their 2022 tax year assessment by submitting the short county property tax assessment appeal form available here.

The Delaware County Council waived fees for assessment appeals.

Residents who want to appeal their reassessments but do not have Internet or printer access can pick up a copy of the form at the County’s Assessor’s Office at Government Center or call the Assessor’s Office at 610-891-5127 and ask that one be sent to you.

Next year’s tax bills are the first due under the County-wide reassessment ordered in 2017 by the Delaware Court of Common Pleas.

In 2020, Tyler Technologies, a national company that performed the first and only previous countywide reassessment for Delaware County more than two decades ago, assessed every property using a combination of property records and visual inspections.

The goal of the court ordered reassessment was to more equitably distribute the tax burden based on July 1, 2019, property values. Under Pennsylvania law, no taxing authority — neither the county nor local school boards — may increase the total amount of taxes collected through an assessment.

Individual assessments may change, however, as the value of individual properties rise or fall. The County Council in 2017 — none of whom are still serving — hired Tyler Technologies to perform the updated assessment.

"It is important that anyone who believes their property’s revised valuation is incorrect to file an appeal. It is possible that the outside vendor didn’t have complete information for some properties, made a mathematical error or grouped a given property with an inappropriate group of neighboring properties when it looked at comparable sales data," Delaware County Councilwoman Christine Reuther said. "We want everyone to be paying their fair share, and not a penny more, and we need property owners to help the County, local municipalities and school districts get it right."