How to appeal your Berks County property assessment

Any Berks County property owner can appeal their assessment once a year by filing a form with the Board of Assessment Appeals by August 1. The fee is $50 for a house or farm and $200 for any other class of property. A successful appeal lowers the assessed value your county, municipal, and school taxes are all calculated from, starting with the following tax year.

You are not appealing your tax bill or the tax rate. You are appealing the assessed value, and because Berks assessments date to a 1994 base year, that number is supposed to sit far below today's market value. The question is whether your assessment is too high relative to your property's market value, compared to the standard everyone else is held to. The state publishes a "common level ratio" for Berks County each year that officially converts assessed values to market values. Divide your assessed value by the ratio and you get the market value the county is implying for your property. If that implied value is higher than your home would sell for, you have a case. The state certifies a new ratio by July 1 each year for the appeals filed that summer. The current one, for appeals filed by the August 1, 2026 deadline and taking effect in 2027, is 32.1 percent; the year before it was 34.37 percent, and the ratio for appeals filed in 2027 is due from the state by July 1, 2027; this year's came out May 20.

Step by step

1. Look up your assessment on the free county property records search, or on BerksConnect's own Berks County parcel search, which reads the same county file and shows the assessed value next to the estimated tax bill and the sales history. Our parcel search guide explains the fields.
2. Estimate your market value. Recent comparable sales in your neighborhood are the standard; a professional appraisal is stronger.
3. Do the ratio math. The county posts the ratio for each appeal year on its common level ratio page: 32.1 percent for appeals effective in 2027. A home assessed at $100,000 implies a market value of about $311,500 at that ratio. If your home would sell for less, the assessment is high. Check the page again before you file next summer, because the ratio has dropped every year since 2022.
4. File the appeal form with the fee by August 1. The filing window opens June 15. The form is on the Assessment office's forms page and at the office at 400 E. Wyomissing Avenue, Mohnton, the county's South Campus, weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; it can be mailed or left in the office's drop box beside the canopied entrance, but not emailed or faxed. The form must be in the office by 5 p.m. on the deadline. A postmark does not count, and late forms are rejected. When August 1 falls on a weekend the deadline moves to the next business day, so the next deadline is Monday, August 2, 2027. Fees since January 1, 2026 are $50 for residential and farm property, $200 for commercial, industrial, exemption, and every other class, and $25 for a mobile home, one check per parcel payable to County of Berks, and they are not refunded.
5. Prepare your evidence. The county's form spells out what the board expects: an appraisal from the past six months, or documented sales of at least three similar properties from the past six months with the sales sheets, property details, and photos of each; a photo of your own property is required in every case; commercial and multi-unit apartment appeals need income and expense data; a newly built home bought in the past six months needs the settlement sheet and builder's contract. Bring one copy of everything for the board.
6. Attend your hearing. The Board of Assessment Appeals returned to in-person hearings in April 2026, ending the phone-hearing practice from the pandemic years. Annual appeals are heard from July through October; the form asks you to list dates you are unavailable. An appointment notice is mailed. Residential hearings are scheduled for 15 minutes and commercial hearings for 30, appointments are not rescheduled, and the county treats a no-show as abandoning the appeal. You can ask for an interpreter on the form.
7. Get the decision. If you lose, you can appeal to the Berks County Court of Common Pleas within 30 days of the date on the final notice. The Prothonotary's fee for an assessment appeal is $225 under its fee bill effective September 28, 2026.

Three warnings

• Appeals can raise your assessment. The board's decision form has three outcomes, raised, lowered, or denied. If the evidence shows you are under-assessed, the board can increase the number. Do the math before you file.
• School districts file appeals too. Districts and other taxing bodies sometimes bring "reverse appeals" against recently sold properties whose sale price implies under-assessment. The county warns that if you do not appear at a hearing a taxing body requested, your assessment may go up. Buying well above the implied value can put you on that list.
• An appeal invites a fresh look at the whole property, including new construction and improvements. The board weighs market value, not your purchase price alone, and the county says a tax increase or personal financial hardship cannot be considered.

Who can file

The owner, an attorney for the owner, someone holding a power of attorney (attach a copy), or a taxing body may file. If the property is owned by an LLC, corporation, partnership, trust, or anything other than a named person, the appeal must be filed by an attorney, and the attorney must attend the hearing.

Why the system works this way

Berks County has not reassessed since the 1990s, so similar houses can carry different effective tax burdens depending on when they were last valued. A countywide reassessment would reset everyone at once, but it is expensive and politically difficult, and the county has not announced one. Until that changes, the annual appeal is the only correction mechanism. That policy choice belongs to the commissioners; here is how to raise it with them.

FAQ

When is the Berks County assessment appeal deadline?

Annual appeals must be in the Assessment office by 5 p.m. on August 1, or the next business day when August 1 falls on a weekend; the next window closes Monday, August 2, 2027, for appeals that take effect in 2028. Decisions from annual appeals take effect for the following tax year, not the current one.

How much does it cost to file?

Since January 1, 2026, the fee is $50 for a residential or farm property, $200 for commercial, industrial, exemption, and all other classes, and $25 for a mobile home. The commissioners set those rates in Resolution 345.2025 on October 30, 2025, doubling the old residential and commercial fees. The fee is not refundable, even if you win.

Can my assessment go up if I appeal?

Yes. The board reviews the evidence in both directions and can raise an assessment it finds too low. Run the common-level-ratio math first.

Do I need a lawyer or appraiser?

An individual owner can represent themselves, and many do. A professional appraisal from the past six months is the strongest single piece of evidence. Property held by an LLC, corporation, partnership, or trust must be appealed through an attorney, and attorneys are common in Court of Common Pleas appeals.

What if I miss August 1?

You wait for next year's window, unless you receive a notice that the county changed your assessment, which opens a separate appeal that must be filed within 40 calendar days of the mailing date on the notice. The same appeal form has boxes for Clean and Green and rollback appeals. Ask the Assessment office at 610-478-6262 which category applies.