Using the preliminary AVI values, three-story houses on the block have assessments ranging from $248,000 to $401,000, a range of 61 percent. Using the legacy system, the spread between the same group is a staggering 300 percent.
"Yeah, well, and this is one block out of many, all right?" Mescolotto said, adding that the preliminary AVI figures made available last spring were not final and would likely change.
In one sense, the BRT is right to target Kimball Street for steep increases.
Although most properties on the block were reassessed in 2005 or '07, those increases were modest and did not fully reflect the rapid growth of property values in the Italian Market area. Many residents of the 900 block of Kimball have undoubtedly paid less than their fair share of property taxes for many years.
"We recognize that taxes on a lot of properties in this area may deserve to go up. Many of us should pay more. The question is how much, and the BRT clearly can't determine that with any accuracy or proportionality," said the Rev. Ken Metzner, whose tax bill on his Kimball Street house will more than triple.
Metzner, who spent 17 years as a lawyer before entering a seminary, is trying to orchestrate resistance to the reassessments, distributing fliers in the neighborhood, and scheduling a series of meetings to instruct residents how to appeal their reassessments.
"If they're aggrieved in any way, shape, or form we'll be glad to look their cases over," Mescolotto said.
Unlike in previous years, the BRT does not appear to be under pressure from the mayor and City Council to raise assessments. That long-standing practice had the effect of increasing the city's total property-tax revenue without forcing electing officials to increase the tax rate.
This year, though, the Nutter administration predicted no growth in property-tax revenue, meaning City Hall had no expectation that the BRT would increase assessments this year.
"Given that the BRT is working on the Actual Value Initiative, we did not think there would be many new assessments this year," city Finance Director Rob Dubow said, explaining why the city did not predict a rise in property-tax collections. "That was not to send them a message about how many assessments they should or should not do. It is their job to determine that."
Read "Tax Travesty," a three-part series on chaos and cronyism inside the BRT, at
Contact staff writer Patrick Kerkstra at 215-854-2827 or pkerkstra@phillynews.com.
