Task force to study what's up with BRT

The timeline for the city's move to "actual value" property-tax assessments seemed up in the air yesterday as City Council and Mayor Nutter said they would set up a task force to review the Board of Revision of Taxes.

Delay has been the name of the game with the new property-assessment plans.

First, the BRT repeatedly pushed back the delivery date of a citywide re-evaluation of property taxes. Then, Council cringed at the idea of changing the property-tax system in the middle of Nutter's proposed temporary two-year property-tax increase.

Now, Nutter has dropped the property-tax hike under pressure from Council. But the fallout from a blistering Philadelphia Inquirer investigation, which revealed a history of BRT mismanagement, political patronage and inaccurate assessments, could delay the process again as the city figures out how to reform or restructure the agency.

Council President Anna Verna yesterday questioned how Council can proceed on the actual-value plan while city officials are focused on how to reform the BRT. Verna said she has been warned that the actual-value property-tax assessments delivered by BRT two weeks ago include mistakes on some properties.

"It's not all that simple," Verna said. "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. And this is the only time that we're going to be able to address the entire issue."

Verna said the mayor was preparing to name a task force made up of his staff, Council members and Council staffers to examine the problems.

Nutter yesterday said the timing of a shift to "actual value" would depend partially on when the BRT provides final assessment numbers. The agency gave Nutter and Council its preliminary assessments two weeks ago.

"I think if you talk to the BRT, they would tell you that they're not finished," Nutter said.

The city now uses a "fractional" system, assessing Philadelphia's 450,000 residential and 125,000 commercial properties at 32 percent of their value and then applying a tax rate.

In the actual-value system, approved by the BRT in July, properties will be assessed at 100 percent of their value, but taxed at a lower rate.

Councilman Bill Green, who has submitted legislation to restructure the BRT, thinks the reform movement actually could help keep the actual-value plan on schedule for implementation next year. Property owners, he explained, might be more plugged into what's happening at the BRT because of the reform efforts.

"I think we can walk and chew gum at the same time," Green said. "I think it would be harder to get actual value done without an intended reform."

Green also thought Council could find the political will to move the issue forward.

"There are members that are very publicly against it," he said. "I think most members are open to it. They want to make sure it's a fair system." *