Duties performed by the BRT include:

• Hearing Appeals and rendering decisions for Appeals of Market Value, click HERE for more information.  Non-profit Exemption, click HERE for more information.
  
  
• Hearing appeals and rendering decisions in Condemnation matters, when sitting as a Board of Viewers. Call (215) 686-4333 for more information.
  
  
• Administration of all Tax Abatement Programs for New Residential Construction, Residential Rehabilitation, and Construction and Improvement to Business Properties. Call (215) 686-9270 for more information.
  
  
• Assignment of all Official Addresses and the administration of an address-based Property Information Database. Call (215) 686-4334 for more information.
  

For all other inquires, please email, or call (215) 686-4334 or FAX your inquiry to (215) 686-4336.

For information on other City Agencies please go to the Links page.


 History of the Board of Revision of Taxes:

The Board of Revision of Taxes was established pursuant to the Consolidation Act of 1854 and charged with the function of hearing appeals on real property valuations and correcting errors and inequities in those values. The Board was first composed of the City Commissioners, the City Treasurer and the Receiver of Taxes.  In 1865, two appointees of the Court of Common Pleas were substituted for the Treasurer and the Receiver, and the Commissioners' participation was limited to their senior member only.

In 1867, Pennsylvania adopted a new law that resulted in the City Commissioner being removed from the Board, resulting in the Board consisting of three Court appointees. The same Act transferred powers regarding property valuation procedures and the appointment of assessors from the City Commissioners to the Board.

A law enacted in 1937 increased the Board’s membership to seven individuals. In addition, they were assigned the function of the then-abolished Board of View, which determines compensation to owners whose property is taken for public purposes.

This law abolished the existing Board and assessors and provided that the seven members of the new Board would be appointed by the Judges of the Philadelphia Common Pleas Court for six-year overlapping terms. A 1939 law repealed all previous acts relating to the Board of Revision of Taxes and assessors within the County of Philadelphia.

In 1964, a new law reestablished the Board of View in Philadelphia, providing that the members of the Board of Revision of Taxes may be appointed to the separate Board of View. Under this act, the Board of Judges of the Philadelphia Courts of Common Pleas appointed the then seven members of the city Board of Revision of Taxes, plus two others, as members of a separate Board of View.


 The Department is administered by Board Members and its Executive Director:

Charlesretta Meade, Esq. Chairman [Close] Charlesretta Meade is Chairman of the Philadelphia Board of Revision of Taxes, the Real Property Assessment and Appeals Agency for the City of Philadelphia.  Formerly Ms. Meade served as Vice Chair of the Board of Revision of Taxes, Chair of the Philadelphia Tax Review Board, Director of the Philadelphia Parking Authority, and Commonwealth Trustee of Thomas Jefferson University.  A community activist, her work includes the construction and rehabilitation of over one hundred residential houses for low and middle income first-time homeowners.  She received her Juris Doctor Degree from Temple University Law School and is admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the United States Eastern District Court and the Supreme Court of the United States. Harvey M. Levin, MAI Vice-Chairman [Close] Harvey M. Levin is a state-certified general real estate appraiser and real estate broker who is a member of the Appraisal Institute (MAI).  Former Chairman of the Pennsylvania State Real Estate Commission, he was instrumental in establishing mandatory continuing education for real estate practitioners.  He is a graduate of Temple University with a B.S. Degree in economics and the real estate program of the Wharton School.  Mr. Levin is Adjunct Professor of Real Estate at Temple University.  Qualified in federal and state courts as an expert witness, he lectures extensively on real estate taxation issues. Robert N. C. Nix III, Esq. Secretary [Close] Robert Nix III has over 20 years of experience as board member for a number of organizations in the Philadelphia area including the Philadelphia Art Commission, the Philadelphia Sports Congress, and the Mann Center for The Performing Arts.  The President of the Fairmount Park Commission and former President and CEO of William Penn Bank, Mr. Nix currently chairs the Condemnation Committee and Exemption Committee for the Board of Revision of Taxes. Hon. Alan K. Silberstein Member [Close] Alan K. Silberstein is President Judge Emeritus of the Philadelphia Municipal Court. He is a graduate of Temple University School of Law. After graduation, he first entered into private practice, and later became a partner in the law firm of Herman, Bayer, and Silberstein. He was elected Judge of the Philadelphia Municipal Court in 1976. In 1988, he became President Judge and served in that capacity until 1999. Judge Silberstein is one of only two honorary members in the American Society of Appraisers. He is a recipient of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Award, as well as several other awards including the John Peter Zenger Award, the Distinguished Service Award from the Ronald Bruce Nipon Association, Community Services Awards from Pennsylvania Development Disabilities Council, Big Sisters of Philadelphia, Inc., United States Office of Personnel Management, Tau Epsilon Rho Law Society, and the Chapel of the Four Chaplains. Judge Silberstein joined the Board of Revision of Taxes in 2007 Hon. Russell M. Nigro Member Howard M. Goldsmith Member Anthony Lewis Jr. Member For more information on the billing and collecting of taxes, contact the Department of Revenue at (215) 686-6442 or visit  http://www.phila.gov/revenue.