Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Pennsylvania

non-comparable county taxes

I live in Springfield, PA (Delaware County) and have noticed after

attending numerous open houses that every ones houses are

appraised for more and have lower taxes than mine. All these house

have large additions, more bathrooms and bedrooms and less taxes

than my home which was recently, as well as eveyone else in

Delaware County, reassessed. I thought that after the

reassessment my taxes would either go down or eveyone elses would

have gone up, which is not the case. My house is assessed at

$147,000 and my taxes are @$3,800. A friends' house, just around

the corner, was assessed for $198,000, has two more bathrooms,

500 more square feet, and two more bedrooms and he pays $3,200 in

taxes. What are your local taxes based on and what can I do to

contest this unequality? Thank You, Deborah


Asked on 1/22/02, 11:08 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Gerald Hershenson Law Office of Gerald M. Hershenson

Re: non-comparable county taxes

It is difficult to accurately answer your question without more information. Real Estate taxes are arrived at by combining both the School Tax and the County and Township tax. The house you are refering to may be in a different township or school district. The assessment is based upon fair market value. However, the actual tax in your area is separately assessed by the county, township and school district. The county tax rate remains the same for all real estate in the county, but represents a small portion of the total tax. The balance depends on the total tax assessed by a particular township and school district. If you need more detailed information, please call me at 215-579-9390.

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Answered on 1/22/02, 1:44 pm


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