According to an Inquirer analysis, urban property valuations are rising fastest in a handful of poorer neighborhoods near heavily gentrified areas in West Philadelphia.

Homeowners in Kingsessing and Parkside will see some of the biggest increases this year in their property assessments, which the city uses to calculate property tax bills. In Kingsessing, the average assessment rose just over 50%, the highest increase of any neighborhood in the analysis, which focused on single-family homes and was based on data the city posted online Wednesday.

Yet for most homeowners in these neighborhoods, tax bills remain relatively low for now, under $500 for many residential properties. That’s because property values ​​there are lower than in other parts of the city and because the City Council increased the property tax exemption this year so that owners of homes valued under $100,000 owe nothing.

One of the top priorities of local politicians in Philadelphia is to prevent the displacement of black and brown neighborhoods through gentrification, because Philadelphia has an unusually high number of low-income homeowners.

The real estate boom of the past twenty years in the neighborhoods surrounding Center City has dramatically transformed the city, and the new city valuation data is the latest indication that market pressures are extending beyond places like University City, Fishtown and Brewerytown.

In the census tracts where assessment growth was higher than the city average, 58% of residents are black and 25% are white, the analysis found. (Overall, Philadelphia is 40% black and 37% white.)

“The lowest income homeowners by far are Black and brown people, so we couldn’t stand by and watch the city and its tax assessment process displace people,” said City Councilman Jamie Gauthier, who pushed for tax relief during city budget negotiations. “The only reason I even ran for City Council is because I’m from the district and have seen the changes in terms of gentrification and displacement.”

The new assessments are the result of the first citywide reassessment since 2022. As a result, they reflect two years of growth in the housing market, which will likely result in price shock for many. The city began sending notices to property owners on Wednesday.

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Mayor Cherelle L. Parker announced Monday that the tax burden for the average homeowner will increase by about $330 to about $2,300 – provided they take advantage of the property tax exemption, a free program that reduces the assessed value of owner-occupied properties by $100,000.

The tax burden on average residential properties without an exemption will increase by $614, according to an administrative document obtained by the Inquirer.

The property tax rate is 1.3998% of the assessed value.

Northeast Philadelphia was also hit hard by the new assessments. In Frankford, assessments rose an average of 31% and in Somerton, 26%. The increasingly diverse part of the city saw similar increases in all socioeconomic neighborhoods.

Residents of upscale Chestnut Hill, meanwhile, will face the highest dollar tax increases. Many homeowners there will pay $1,500 more than last year as average tax increases rose 19 percent in an area where real estate prices are already high.

Concerned about rising taxes, Council President Kenyatta Johnson led an initiative this spring to increase the homeownership exemption, which previously stood at $80,000, and he also endorsed Gauthier’s new program, a tax freeze program for low-income homeowners.

The Kingsessing neighborhood, where the tax burden is increasing the most, is located on the border of their districts in southwest Philadelphia.

Johnson said it is “imperative” that the city educate residents on how to sign up for assistance programs.

“Any time a person gets a tax increase, that’s a cause for concern because we live in the highest city in the country in terms of poverty,” Johnson said. “It’s going to be imperative that we make sure our constituents that we represent have access to all the tax relief measures that we’ve implemented.”

Thanks to a reform initiative under former Mayor Michael A. Nutter, Philadelphia’s property tax lists have become significantly more accurate over the past decade and the assessment processes have become more professional.

Yet, like other jurisdictions across the country, assessments in Philadelphia are biased against black and low-income homeowners. Although the city is prohibited from considering race when assessing properties, systematic biases in standard assessment procedures lead to inflated assessments in poorer neighborhoods, where black and brown people are more likely to live, and under-inflated assessments in wealthier, whiter neighborhoods.

“The city is definitely improving its accuracy, but in less valuable neighborhoods and African-American neighborhoods like North Philly, less valuable properties are more likely to be overvalued than higher-value properties in whiter neighborhoods,” said Montgomery Wilson, an attorney with Community Legal Services. “A homeowner who is African-American and lives in a $100,000 property has more reason to wonder if they are being overvalued than someone who is white and lives in Chestnut Hill.”

Property owners who believe their assessments are too high can appeal to the Board of Revision of Taxes by October 7. They can also request a first-level informal review from the Office of Property Assessment.

That October 7 deadline is set by state law, and property owners have a relatively short two-month deadline to file an appeal this year because the city released the revaluation figures four months late.

Finance Director Rob Dubow said Monday that the delay was due to OPA completing studies to prove that the assessments meet industry standards for fairness and accuracy and to give the city an opportunity to develop educational programs to make more property owners aware of the city’s tax relief programs, such as the property tax exemption.

Peter Kelsen, a real estate attorney at Blank Rome, expects most commercial property owners will have no problem meeting the deadline, but he worries about individual homeowners who may not realize the deadline is coming so quickly.

“Business people and property owners who are fairly familiar with the process have time to file an appeal,” Kelsen said. “What I’m worried about, frankly, is single-family home owners who aren’t as familiar with the process. Will they understand the deadlines and be able to file the paperwork?”