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Faced with the prospect of full-market valuation by the Board of Revision of Taxes (BRT), Wheelings felt the fear of losing her home, a property that’s been in her family for three generations.
"I have no idea what I’d do," she said of her grandmother’s residence on 21st and Ellsworth streets. "I don’t even want to think about it or entertain the idea of it happening. [The house] is like a legacy almost, so to lose that property would be really devastating to me."
Wheelings armed herself with knowledge as one of 50 Point Breeze residents in attendance at a meeting hosted by the Community Preservation Network, which is a group of residents’ associations, community groups and individuals looking to unite residents impacted by gentrification, and Concerned Citizens of Point Breeze last Wednesday, where the proposed full-market valuation and its impact on property taxes and homeowners was discussed.
Days later on Aug. 13, the BRT indicated full-market valuation will be shelved for now, but residents are not in the free and clear. Separate from full-market valuation, notices will be mailed to 413,000 property owners of changes to property values. According to a press release, the BRT estimates under the current tax rate, six percent of those receiving notices will see a tax decrease, while 33 percent will see an increase of less than $50; 64 percent will see an increase of less than $100; and 86 percent will see an increase of less than $200.
According to BRT spokesman Pete Peterson, the notices refer to an evaluation method used by the city annually and "there are no changes in the manner that properties will be assessed in 2008," referring in part to the current 8.2-percent tax rate on the assessed value of properties. Any variation in taxes can be directly linked to the property’s changing value, he said.
Though full-market valuation, which uses 100 percent of market value instead of a percentage — now 32 percent — to obtain a home’s assessed value, is on hold, it’s still on the table and this is the second time in as many years residents have come closer than they would have liked to it. Full-market valuation, if and when it is implemented, would most likely spike property taxes by forgoing the use of the percentage.
Bahiya Carbal-Johnson, of the Community Leadership Institute, a housing group that helps citizens facing eminent domain, and the Community Preservation Network, demonstrated what this could mean for the owner of a property for sale at 334 N. Gross St. at the Aug. 8 meeting at St. Simon the Cyrenian Church, 22nd and Reed streets. In ’08, with a market price of $69,900, taxes for the property would be $1,840. If full-market valuation comes to pass, the taxes would jump to $5,776.
Past plans to carry out the reassessment were put on hold, according to a January ’06 Review article, with notifications on the new measure not expected until ’07. Now more than half way through the year, residents are bracing themselves for something that is not set to come with the calendar flip to ’08, according to Peterson.
"[The changes in property values do] not represent full value," he said of the notices coming to mailboxes. "The BRT is looking at potentially pursuing [full-market valuation] at some time in the future."
Despite the temporary hold, last Wednesday’s meeting showed the proposal has residents’ full attention.
Set up to educate and get citizens involved, speakers were drowned out by outcries in response to their points and proceedings were halted several times to quiet the audience.
Carbal-Johnson encouraged residents to refrain from selling their properties and moving if full-market valuation took place because the amount they would be compensated would not fully represent what their property is worth. Concerned Citizens spokeswoman Madeline Shikomba echoed this plea with black-and-white figures on why residents can’t afford to live elsewhere.
"A hundred thousand dollars," she yelled, citing what reports have indicated is the median income to buy a home in the city. "If you don’t make $100,000 you can’t afford to buy a house in Philadelphia."
Shikomba asked another question, and the audience knew the hard truth.
"Who here makes $100,000? Raise your hand!" she shouted, looking around at the still room. "That’s what I thought!"
Residents, Carbal-Johnson said, would then be faced with paying the increase or forced out of their property by way of gentrification or by way of losing their property to the city for not paying taxes.
Wheelings said she wasn’t sure if she could hold on to her grandmother’s house. While she didn’t want to sell or go the way of a sheriff’s sale, she was unsure of how she’d handle things if full-market valuation came to be.
The 57-year-old’s situation mirrored many others at the meeting, and a question-and-answer session made the gathering run well over its scheduled ending time. Many asked how to get involved and where to sign a petition urging the BRT to stop the assessment.
Although immediate fears of substantially higher property taxes can be put aside, efforts to stop full-market valuation entirely are still going strong, especially for Wheelings.
"I’m becoming more involved with the neighborhood because I’m seeing how this is affecting not just me," Wheelings, who plans to pursue the fight in the future, said. "I will be involved as far as the strategies and what needs to be set forth with this no matter what." SPR
