Delaware County Appeals
Please complete this form to receive a free, no-obligation evaluation of your appeal
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT DELAWARE COUNTY TAX ASSESSMENT APPEALS
Why did I receive a letter from you?
You received a letter because our research indicated that your based upon your current property assessment, you are likely overassessed based upon the projected fair market value of your home as determined by our computer algorithm. However, no actual analysis has been completed to determine this at the time you received the letter from us, and therefore, there is no guarantee at this point that you are over assessed. That would be done after you respond to our mailing and indicate you are interested in us looking more closely at your case (by completing the easy form above, or by emailing, mailing, or faxing the representation agreement).
Where were you right after we had the reassessment? Shouldn’t you have reached out to me then?
In most cases, no, you are more likely to win an appeal filed in 2024 (or 2022 and 2023) than you were in 2020 or 2021, and properties that were denied an assessment appeal in 2020 or 2021 could very well get a reduction in 2024. Here’s why:
As you may know, an outside contractor (Tyler) conducted the countywide reassessment and determined values of all Delaware County properties. It should be noted that this contractor was hired by a previous Delaware County Council, and no member of the Council that hired Tyler currently serves.
The valuation was intended to be the fair market value of your property as of July 1, 2019. However, our research indicated that this valuation on average was about 10% below the actual value of your property. In some cases it was too high, but in most cases it was too low. Therefore, in order to have proven that you were over assessed for appeals filed in 2020, you would have had to prove your actual market value on July 1, 2019 was below the assessment that Tyler determined – which was already artificially low in most cases. This was a difficult task and therefore many appeals were denied.
For appeals in 2021, the task was even more difficult. For 2021 appeals, valuation was determined at the time you filed the appeal, which would have been between March and August 2, 2021. As you may know, property values have increased dramatically, especially on residential real estate in the Philadelphia suburbs including Delaware County. Yet, the number you had to beat was still the July 1, 2019 valuation by Tyler, which at this point is likely off by about 20%. This made appeals filed in 2021 even more difficult to win.
2022 was the first year that the common level ratio, which was determined to be 72.8%, was applied to market values to determine new assessments since the reassessment. The common level ratio is based upon the median ratio between sale prices and assessments in Delaware County for sales in 2021. Because of the undervaluation by Tyler and changes in the market between 2019 and 2021, this was 72.8%. The ratio for appeals heard in 2023, based on sales in 2022, was 65.8%. We expect that due to further changes in the market, the common level ratio for your 2024 appeal will be around 61%. The market was strong in 2023, but is beginning to level off. With the market beginning to level off however, this results in an ideal time to file an assessment appeal.
Here is how the math works for an assessment appeal filed in 2020 or 2021 vs one in 2022. Say your house is assessed at 400,000, and you can prove your value is actually $450,000.
For 2020 and 2021, since $450,000 is above $400,000, your appeal would be denied.
For 2022, your market value would be multiplied by 72.8% to determine your new assessment. Therefore, a value of $450,000 would result in a new assessment of 327,600, a reduction of about 18% of your assessment. ($450,000 x 71% = 327,600)
For 2023, your market value would be multiplied by 65.8% to determined your new assessment. Say the value of your property increased from $450,000 to $500,000. You would still have a good appeal with an assessment of 400,000, as $500,000 x 65.8% = 329,000.
For 2024, we project that your market value would be multiplied by 61% to determine your new assessment. Say the value of your property increased from $500,000 to $530,000. Your new assessment would be 323,300 as $530,000 x 61% = 323,300.
Therefore, filing appeals in 2024 on the same properties are much more likely to succeed than if they were filed in 2020 or 2021.
Ok, I’m interested. What is the process?
1. No fee is due up front. Tell us you’re interested by signing and emailing the representation agreement included in your mailing to delco@lavangalaw.com, mailing the agreement to Lavanga Law, 18 Campus Blvd, Ste 100, Newtown Square, PA 19073 or faxing the agreement to 215-689-3480. If you purchased your property after 3/15/23, please send a copy of your ALTA or HUD-1 settlement statement. Otherwise, our staff will do an informal analysis of your property based upon Delaware County records and compare it to recent sales of similar properties. Similar properties would be properties in your school district that are similar in age, style, size, amenities, etc. After this step, we will share our findings on value by email, tell you how much you will save if we can ultimately prove that value, give a recommendation on the likelihood that your appeal will succeed, and tell you if we recommend or do not recommend that we proceed. We would then refer this to our appraiser.
2. After the appraisal comes back, we will prepare your case for filing. We normally file your appeal right away, but if your appeal is marginal, we will wait until after the actual common level ratio is announced in July, 2024. In the highly unlikely event that the appraisal does not support an assessment decrease, we will not file the appeal.
3. After we file the appeal, we attend the hearing on your behalf and represent you in Media. We will get a notice of the hearing date and time, and you will be copied on the notice. You do NOT need to attend.
4. Decisions are typically made in October or November. After we are notified of the decision, we will analyze it and determine the following:
A. If the decision is what we expected or close to what we expected, and you received a reduction, you would pay a fee of 50% of the difference between what your taxes would have been before the appeal and what they would be after the appeal as a tax reduction fee. For example, if your taxes were $10,000 and you received a decrease that would have made your taxes $8,000 had that assessment been in place in 2024, you would have a $2,000 annual decrease, and you would owe a fee of $1,000. ($2,000 x 50% = $1,000). Please note that this fee is not affected by changes in millage for 2025 — we are comparing your current millage before and after the appeal to determine the fee. This new assessment is permanent unless you make a change to the property that would result in an interim assessment increase, or there is another countywide re-assessment, which is not likely to happen for a very long time. At this point our representation is complete. There are no fees for future years, unless you want us to file a new appeal for a future year.
If our initial projection on the letter you received showed a projected savings above $2,000 a year, no appraisal or filing fee is due, and your only fee is the 50% of the first year’s savings. This would be reflected on your agreement. So for example, if we saved you $3,000, your fee is $1,500, inclusive of all fees and costs.
If our initial projection on the letter you received showed a projective savings below $2,000 a year, you would pay an additional $500 on top of the 50% of the first year’s savings, however this is capped as an overall fee for our legal services and the appraisal and filing fee at your annual savings. For example, if we wind up only saving you $400, your fee would normally be $700 ($500 for the appraisal and filing fee and $200 for 50% of $400. However, the fee would be reduced to your annual savings so your only fee would be $400.
B. If the decision not what we expected, (this could happen if your case is completely denied or you receive a smaller reduction than expected) we will make an evaluation as to what went wrong, and if we determine the Board was in error and that an appeal to the Court of Common Pleas may result in a $1,000 or greater decrease in your taxes, we will file an appeal to this Court. At that point, we are typically negotiating a settlement with the solicitor for your school district. The school district may order their own appraisal at their expense. You will be informed of settlement negotiations and will have the right to accept or reject any settlement. This process sometimes takes a year or more, but any reduction would be retroactive to 2024, so you would receive a tax refund if you had already paid 2023 taxes. If we receive an acceptable settlement, you would pay a fee of 50% of the difference between what your taxes would have been before the settlement and what they would be after the settlement. For example, if your taxes were $10,000, and the Board reduced them to $9,000, but we believe they should have decreased them to $8,000 and we reach a settlement reducing them to $8,000, you would owe a fee of $1,000. ($2,000 x 50% = $1,000). If you got a small reduction as a result of Board’s decision, you would get a bill for the small reduction (in this case, $500) and then a second bill for the difference between the reduced assessment after the Board’ decision and the further reduced assessment after the settlement (in this case, another $500).
C. If we get denied, and we determine it is not in your best interest to pursue an additional appeal, or if we are unable to reach a settlement after the additional appeal, we would terminate representation. No fee is due at all for appeals where we achieve no assessment reduction.