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Attorney Discusses How Looming Reassessment Will Affect Property Owners In Delaware County

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- A Delaware County judge has ordered a reassessment of values of all 200,000 plus properties in the county.

Attorney Lee Herman went through the recent reassessment process in Philadelphia.

He says first off, be aware nothing in Delaware County will officially change until January 2021, but the county will start the process of reassessing property values later this year.

Property Reassessment Coming Soon To Delaware County

Herman says knowledge is power, he says learn how the process works, start looking at comparable values in your neighborhood.

"Just keep your eyes wide open, because there will be anomalies. Because, it's an imperfect system, people aren't always correct when they make assessments."

As for who will be affected, he says the older established homes that have seen a rise in property value will be adversely affected. New construction that has been appraised at or closer to market value could potentially benefit as other property values rise.

Changes to property values and resulting taxes must remain revenue neutral, meaning the county can't use the reassessment to raise taxes.

Herman says in Philadelphia, private property owners saw values go up, while commercial properties saw a decrease.

Delaware County Executive Director Marianne Grace responded in a statement that Delaware County property owners will see a much different assessment procedure than the one that was conducted in the late 1990s.

"The last reassessment was the first ever conducted by the County and at that time, assessors were required to visit and inspect every single property" she said.

"It is important for all property owners to realize that reassessment does not necessarily equate to a property tax increase" said Grace. "The law prevents a local municipality, a school district or a county government from gaining a windfall for taxing authorities."

Since the time of the last reassessment, the Delaware County Board of Assessment has maintained computer aided mass appraisal software and has maintained information about property changes received from local municipalities.

As a result, not all properties will be required to be visited by an appraiser, resulting in a process that will be less disruptive for residents.

The statement from officials added, as more specific plans are developed for conducting the reassessment, Delaware County Council is committed to sharing information with residents about the reassessment process, assessment values and how to resolve any issues that may arise.

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