How Gentrification Affected Philadelphia’s Homeowners
“Philadelphia is a unique case in which to study these questions. In 2013, the city made a sweeping overhaul of its property tax system after criticism that the previous system was based on assessments that were lower than many homes’ market value. The new taxes, through the Actual Value Initiative (AVI), went into effect in 2014 and were derived from what the property assessment office considered to be the actual market value of the properties. That meant that many homeowners who had been seeing only their housing values rise as their neighborhood gentrified, also saw a sharp rise in property taxes in 2014.”