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Philadelphia City Council Moves to Stabilize Real Estate Taxes with Multi-Year Averaging Proposal

Official:Amending Chapter 19-1300 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Real Estate Taxes," by providing that real estate taxes levied under that Chapter shall be based on the average of several years of assessed values, so as to smooth out the effect of rapid increases in property values, and by making technical amendments, under certain terms and conditions.

Sponsor: Councilmember DiCicco

Introduced: April 30, 2009

: Committee on Finance

finance housing taxation

No one voted on this bill

This bill was introduced in the 2008–2011 Council term and when that term ran out. The public record shows no committee vote and no floor vote at any stage, so no member of Council ever went on record for or against it.

That is not unusual here. Of the 8,465 bills introduced between 2000 and 2025, 1,624 lapsed without a single recorded vote. Ninety percent of bills that became law carry a roll call. Three percent of lapsed bills do. How this works.

Plain-Language Summary

This bill proposes to change how Philadelphia calculates real estate taxes by averaging out several years of assessed property values, rather than using a single year's value.

What This Bill Does

AI-written. Every figure is checked against the bill text.

Changes the basis for calculating real estate taxes from a single year's assessed value to the average of several years of assessed values.
Aims to smooth out the effect of rapid increases in property values by using an average of several years' values.
Preserves the current tax rates for different years, as specified in the bill (e.g. $1.975 for 1974-1976, $3.474 for 2003 and after).
Makes technical amendments to the existing code sections, although the specific changes are not specified in the provided text.