Report: Improper homestead exemptions cost Philadelphia $30 million annually 32%
By Marco Cerino48%
8/5/2026, 2:00:00 PM
Keywords: Homeowners
BS Summary: This article contains 15 faulty reasoning types, including Availability Heuristic, Loss Aversion, and Negativity Bias, with Recency Bias as the most egregious example at 14.3% saturation with 74 hits. Analysis detected 460 faulty-reasoning hits from 519 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 34.4% and a BS Rank of 32% (19,723 of 28,846 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 68.40% of the article peer group.
Nearly 36,000 Philadelphia homeowners have been improperly receiving the homestead property tax exemption, according to a report released Wednesday by the Office of the City Controller.
The report follows an investigation completed in December 2024, when the controller's office found that ineligible exemptions were costing the city more than $11 million in annual revenue.
The latest report concluded that a significantly larger number of properties are incorrectly receiving the exemption, which now allows homeowners to exclude $100,000 of their property’s assessed value from taxation.
As a result, the city is losing an estimated $30 million in revenue each year, according to the report.
The controller's office initially identified 22,046 properties that were receiving the exemption despite being ineligible.
In its latest review, the office examined all 253,000 properties enrolled in the homestead program to determine whether applicants both owned and occupied the homes for which they claimed the benefit.
Factors that raised concerns about eligibility included multiple properties owned by the same individual, shared mailing addresses, and mailing addresses outside Philadelphia.
Rental properties also are ineligible for the exemption.
"We were seeing similar things in the first go-around where we identified people with mailing addresses all the way out in California," City Controller Christy Brady told The Philadelphia Tribune on Wednesday.
"The more risk factors that a property exhibited, then the higher a chance they're illegitimately taking it."
According to the report, the Department of Revenue has removed the exemption from 13,355 of the 22,046 properties identified in the 2024 audit.
The new, expanded review initially flagged more than 58,000 properties as potentially ineligible before investigators narrowed the list to nearly 36,000 residences they determined were improperly receiving the benefit.
"I am happy (Department of) Revenue did start to take remedial action to remove people that were illegitimately taking the Homestead exemption," Brady said.
"We can do more.
The city can do more.
The actions that Revenue has taken provide revenues for the School District and the city.
Maybe we don't have to raise taxes.
We can just do a better job collecting."
The report comes as Philadelphia homeowners recently received updated property assessments and tax bills.
The controller's office said the city would be responsible for issuing revised bills to property owners found ineligible for the exemption, which currently saves eligible homeowners about $1,400 annually.
A spokesperson for the Department of Revenue told The Tribune on Wednesday afternoon that additional assessments will not be issued immediately to property owners affected by the eligibility changes.
Updated bills will be mailed later this fall, and taxpayers will have an opportunity to appeal the department’s determination.
Properties that lose the exemption will be required to repay previously avoided taxes, along with any applicable fees, the department said.
"Before ever removing a program, the Department of Revenue sends property owners two notices through the mail requesting additional verification within a 60-day window," the spokesperson said in an email.
"Once a program is removed, Revenue (Department) also mails a removal notice that lists which benefits are being removed and the property owner's appeal options."
Speakers
1speaker22%attributed speech407writer words
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100%flagged-word coverageChristy Brady
112 attributed words100% of attributed speech62% writer coverage
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