ALERT! ANNUAL PA R.E. TAX ASSESSMENT APPEALS DEADLINES!
From: JOE O’BRIEN, ESQ. & CHRIS PEIFER, ESQ.
KASSAB ARCHBOLD OBRIEN & PEIFER P. C., MEDIA, PA
“THE PA R.E. TAX APPEAL LAWYERS”
www.kaolawassociates.com
2027 ANNUAL PA COUNTY REAL ESTATE TAX ASSESSMENT APPEAL DATES
RAPIDLY APPROACHING!
DON’T MISS THEM!
In PA, the R.E. Tax Assessment Appeal Filing Date for all Counties (except Philadelphia) is September 1st of the year preceding the year appealed (unless the County adopts some other date as early as August 1 of the year preceding). If the appeal due date falls on a weekend or a holiday, it carries over to the next business day. So all August 1, 2026 due dates are carried over to August 3, 2026 because August 1, 2026 is Saturday. Philadelphia’s appeal date is the first Monday of the October preceding the appealed year so it’s October 5, 2026 for 2027 this year. Many counties have elected August 1 as their appeal date. Allegheny County is now September 1, 2026.
Some sample PA County 2027 appeal filing dates follow. The 2027 Presumed Fair Market Value (PFMV) of a property in 2026 for appeals in 2027 is determined by either dividing the property’s 2026 assessment by the decimal equivalent of the July 1, 2026 Common Level Ratio (CLR) OR by multiplying its assessment by the July 1, 2026 CLR Factor (CLRF) e.g., a 50% CLR would give a decimal equivalent of .50 and would result in a 2.0 CLR factor which is the reciprocal of 50%). These CLR Factors to determine 2027 PFMV were announced by PA as required before July 1, 2026. So a hypothetical $1 million real property’s total 2026 assessment using the 2026 CLRF gives a PFMV for 2027 as follows below. The valuation date is the date the appeal is due.
SAMPLE COUNTIES AND 2027 APPEAL FILING DATES w/ 2026 hypothetical Assessment of $1,000,000 (times the CLR FACTOR IS USED) See our 2027 FAQ’s for all counties.
| County | 2027 Appeal Filing Date | 2026 CLR% Used in 2027 Appeals | 2026 CLRF used in 2027 | Existing 2026 Assessment | Suggests 2027 PFMV ## |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bucks | 3-Aug-26 | 5.60 | 17.8571 | $ 1,000,000.00 | $ 17,857,143 |
| Chester | 3-Aug-26 | 30.60 | 3.2680 | $ 1,000,000.00 | $ 3,267,974 |
| Dauphin | 3-Aug-26 | 38.30 | 2.6110 | $ 1,000,000.00 | $ 2,610,966 |
| Delaware | 3-Aug-26 | 54.60 | 1.8315 | $ 1,000,000.00 | $ 1,831,502 |
| Lehigh | 3-Aug-26 | 47.00 | 2.1277 | $ 1,000,000.00 | $ 2,127,660 |
| Montgomery | 3-Aug-26 | 29.80 | 3.3557 | $ 1,000,000.00 | $ 3,355,705 |
| Philadelphia | 5-Oct-26 | 94.30 | 1.00 PDR# | $ 1,000,000.00 | $ 1,000,000 |
# Predetermined Ratio
## Presumed Fair Market Value to be disproven if appealed
And did you know that within each County, the total real estate tax on a hypothetical $1 million of real estate assessment differs by each municipality?
For Example, in Delaware County, PA a $1 million assessment for a property in Yeadon Borough for 2026 would have a PFMV of $1,744,287 using the July 1, 2025 CLRF of 1.745 or CLR of 57.3% but would have a PFMV of $1,831,501 for 2027 using the July 1, 2026 CLR STEB using July 2026 CLRF. It would owe in 2026 county, municipality, and 2026/2027 school district real estate tax at the estimated 2026 total millage (School mills not yet certified) of Mills 49.863 or $$49,863 while the same $1 million assessment in Concord Township, Delaware County for 2026 would be taxed at the estimated 25.448 total Mills with a total real estate tax of $25,448 in 2026 meaning the Yeadon property pays 95.9% more. The 2027 Mills are not set for County, Municipality, or School District until 2027 but are rarely lower!
All real estate that is not exempt is taxed each year at the total millage for its municipality, school, and county regardless of whether the use is residential, commercial, or industrial on a calendar year bases for county and municipality and on a July 1 of the tax year for fiscal schools. But in Philadelphia, there is only one 2026 tax rate 1.3998% (they don’t use mills but 10 mills equals 1%).
But Philadelphia is on a calendar year and has an additional USE and OCCUPANCY tax of 1.21% on business property, (less a small exemption), that almost doubles the base rate which is otherwise the same for the entire County of Philadelphia.
Only an Attorney licensed in PA may represent the real estate owner-taxpayer and present evidence or represent a client and present expert appraiser and other relevant testimony before the various PA County Boards of Assessment Appeals and Courts except an individual owner of his/her own property.
For over 50 years the law firm of Kassab Archbold O’Brien & Peifer, P.C. (and its predecessors), “THE PA RE TAX APPEAL LAWYERS”, has been filing and litigating REAL ESTATE TAX ASSESSMENT APPEALS of PA commercial, industrial, healthcare, and multi-family residential properties with PFMV‘s ranging from less than a $1 million to over $1 billion BEFORE PENNSYLVANIA COUNTY BOARDS AND PENNSYLVANIA COURTS.
See 2027 PA R.E. TAX ASSESSMENT APPEALS FAQ’s on the firm’s website. www.kaolawassociates.com
Many Pennsylvania attorneys refer such appeals to our law firm as co-counsel in Pennsylvania pursuant to RPC 5.4. and we are happy to work with your in-house counsel and tax department.
Give us a call at 610-892-6886 if you think your real property’s present FMV is less than the 2027 PFMV it would be taxed upon!”
We are conveniently located in suburban Philadelphia area:
17 East Front St.
Media PA 19063
610-565-3800
JOSEPH PATRICK OBRIEN ESQ.
CHRISTOPHER H. PEIFER ESQ.
KASSAB ARCHBOLD OBRIEN & PEIFER P. C.
“THE PA RE TAX APPEAL LAWYERS”
www.kaolawassociates.com
Contact: Bonnie M. Bolc / 610-892-6886
Exec. Dir. Real Estate Tax Assessment
PA Certified Broker/Appraiser
Exempt No More: Nonprofit Entities Increasingly Targeted For Local Real Estate Taxes In Pennsylvania
