PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 28, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The new version of the Board of Revision of Taxes (BRT) web site gives residents and businesses greater access to property assessment data and insight into how property assessments are made.
The Board of Revision of Taxes (BRT) today officially launched the latest version of their Web site, http://brtweb.phila.gov, giving Philadelphians greater tools to research comparable sales and property assessment data by block or geographic area.
"This site gives anyone -- resident, business, prospective buyer -- easy access to more of the BRT's assessment information," said David Glancey, chairman, BRT. "It is a tool, and with it you can get a better picture of a property's worth and also insight into how the assessment process works."
"Every department and agency in the city is committed to making information and services easier to access, and this powerful, new Web site is an example of those efforts," said Mayor John F. Street.
The new Web site, expanded as part of Mayor Street's vision for improving Philadelphians' access to city services and information, empowers users to search property values by block or a geographic area; research comparable sales; access complete and current BRT property data directly linked to the BRT's assessment application; enjoy improved navigation; and use a glossary of real estate terminology that will assist citizens in understanding property valuation and assessments. The site is constantly updated with new property assessments and sales information. As the BRT database is updated, new information is rolled out to the Web site in a matter of hours.
Features of the last BRT site are still available. Users can still access BRT information about all properties within the city of Philadelphia including a property's market value, total assessed value, square footage, the last sale price and most recent sale date; abatement, exemption and other property tax rules.
Anyone with Internet access can view and use the site at http://brtweb.phila.gov.
Internet access is available at all branches of the Free Library of Philadelphia.
A version of the site was built for internal use at the BRT and designed with BRT staff in mind. The internal BRT Web site will help them work more efficiently by providing improved access to the main database.
The completed site is a joint effort between the BRT and the Mayor's Office of Information Services. Media Bureau Networks -- http://www.mediabureau.com/ -- designed and built the site.
The Board of Revision of Taxes is the city agency responsible for valuing real property in the city of Philadelphia. David B.Glancey is the Chairman of the BRT. The Mayor's Office of Information Services (MOIS) is led by Dianah L. Neff, Chief Information Officer, and is the central coordination point for the improvement of city information technology (IT) processes.