"Are they saying, 'This guy is political, and we got to make an example of him'?" he asked.
The list of 54 reassessments released yesterday is just the start. Owners of hundreds of mostly high-end homes in Philadelphia - some of whom have been getting breaks for years - are about to be hit with higher bills.
It's the latest fallout from the disclosures about the long-running tax break that the city gave State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo. His 27-room Green Street mansion, which Fumo was trying to sell for $6 million, until recently was valued at just $250,000.
The Philadelphia Democrat got the biggest tax hike on the list released yesterday; his bill will go from $6,611 to $25,201 next year.
In order not to single out Fumo, assessors from the city's Board of Revision of Taxes have begun to increase values on about 500 other large homes.
Next up are deluxe properties in Chestnut Hill and Northeast Philadelphia, said Eugene Davey, the board's director of assessments.
Davey - whose agency in past years has had a reputation for cronyism - blamed the earlier low valuations on a computer glitch. There was no favoritism, he said.
"It would be hard to believe there would be any special treatment," Davey said.
Under the board's arcane tax system, the city sets "market values" for properties at about a third of the real sale price of comparable homes.
The board then applies a formula to that number to come up with assessments, and tax bills.
But the board's "market value" can vary widely from the real prices - and not just with Fumo's house.
Take the Rittenhouse Square mansion of McNeil, whose father made a fortune helping to develop Tylenol and other products.
For years, the board had set the value at $865,400. Now, it's set at $1.8 million.
Even at the city's one-third formula, that would appear to be a bargain: The house is up for sale for $11.7 million.
