As our neighbors across Chestnut Hill open their latest property assessment notices, many of us are bracing for yet another hike in our tax burden (“Property assessments rise, with tax bills to follow,” CH Local, Aug. 6). While we understand that property values fluctuate and the city requires revenue to function, it is becoming increasingly difficult to accept these perpetual reassessments when the City of Philadelphia demonstrates such profound negligence in collecting the taxes it already levies.
It is a bitter irony to be told that our homes are “under-assessed” and that we …
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As our neighbors across Chestnut Hill open their latest property assessment notices, many of us are bracing for yet another hike in our tax burden (“Property assessments rise, with tax bills to follow,” CH Local, Aug. 6). While we understand that property values fluctuate and the city requires revenue to function, it is becoming increasingly difficult to accept these perpetual reassessments when the City of Philadelphia demonstrates such profound negligence in collecting the taxes it already levies.
It is a bitter irony to be told that our homes are “under-assessed” and that we must pay more to bridge the city’s budget gaps, while hundreds of millions of dollars in established tax debt sit uncollected. According to the city’s own Department of Revenue data from fiscal year 2025, there is over $214 million in outstanding active principal in real estate tax alone, alongside tens of millions more in unpaid business and wage taxes. When the city signals that it is willing to let massive debts languish rather than aggressively pursuing them, it creates a system where the burden of governance falls disproportionately on those who play by the rules and pay on time.
Before the Office of Property Assessment asks the residents of Chestnut Hill to dig deeper into their pockets, the city administration must demonstrate basic fiscal competence by closing the gap on existing delinquencies. If the city were to collect even a fraction of the tens of thousands of accounts currently in arrears, the desperate need for these aggressive, sweeping reassessments would be significantly mitigated.
We are not asking for a free pass; we are asking for fairness. It is fundamentally unjust to penalize compliant taxpayers with higher bills to compensate for a collection system that seems more concerned with administrative ease than fiscal accountability. We deserve a tax policy that prioritizes the collection of what is already owed before it demands a cent more from those of us who have already paid our fair share.
Ted Forrence
Chestnut Hill
