Nutter: Court's ruling for BRT won't stop property-tax reform

Mayor Nutter wants residents to know that property-tax reform will move forward, despite a state Supreme Court ruling that will allow the Board of Revision of Taxes to stay in place to hear appeals.

Voters in May cast ballots to abolish the embattled BRT and replace it with the Office of Property Assessment and an independent Board of Property Assessment Appeals. But the court ruled that only the General Assembly could eliminate the BRT.

However, the ruling does confirm the city's right to take over the work of assessing properties, a decision Nutter hailed as a victory.

"The assessment function is now confirmed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to be separate and distinct from the appeals process," Nutter said. "That has been our primary focus - that is the issue we zeroed in on some time ago, and that's what we fought for."

Chief Assessor Richie McKeithen was hired over the summer to overhaul the city's property assessments.

The failures of the BRT were chronicled in an Inquirer series, which blasted the agency for its history of political patronage and inaccurate assessments.

For now, if you have a problem with your assessment, you will be going before the old board. Those who disagree with the rulings can appeal to Common Pleas Court.

Nutter said the city would explore legal options on how to proceed after the court ruling. The nominees for the planned appeal board will remain on hold.

Still, Nutter said assessments were the top priority.

"If you get the assessments right, there will be very few appeals," Nutter said. "The BRT as we knew it does not exist anymore."

Members of the BRT asked the state Supreme Court to rule on whether the city had the authority to abolish the board or strip their appeals powers. The board members also asked the court whether Nutter and Council had the power to reduce their salaries, an issue the court declined to take up. That issue is before Common Pleas Court.

The watchdog group Committee of Seventy called on the state General Assembly yesterday to abolish the BRT once and for all.

"The public doesn't have faith in the BRT, period," said Vice President Ellen Kaplan. "They don't want the current group of people on the BRT making decisions on city properties."