Business Office

Bethel:

Edward Plasha - 610.888.0809
P.O. Box 2299 Boothwyn, PA 19061 

Chester Heights:

Maryann Furlong - 610.358.1241
P.O. Box 152, Chester Heights, PA 19017 

Mailing of Tax Bills

All school tax bills are mailed by July 1, per Local Tax Collection Law (Act of May 25, 1945, P.L. 1050, No. 394, and all amendments thereafter. (72 P.S. 5511, Section 7).

Even though the township and school district tax collectors can send out corrected tax bills, those changes do not affect the county's master property tax data base. The county prepares all of the original, regular tax bills from their database. The county must be contacted by you to change your ownership or address information. If the county has you listed incorrectly, then the township, school district, and county bills will all be wrong.

If the owners’ name is incorrect due to misspelling, please call the Board of Assessment at 610-891-4879 for further information. If the owners’ name is incorrect due to marriage or divorce, please contact your local title company so that a new deed may be created and filed.

Removing a deceased owners’ name from the tax bill:

By Fax:
Fax a signed request with copy of death certificate to the Board of Assessment Office at
(610) 891-4883

By US Mail:
Mail a signed request with copy of death certificate to:
Delaware County Courthouse
Attn: Assessment Office
Government Center Building
201 West Front Street
Media, PA 19063

Changing the mailing address on the tax bill:
By Fax:
Fax a signed request to the Board of Assessment Office at (610) 891-4883

By US Mail:
Mail a signed request to:
Delaware County Courthouse
Attn: Assessment Office
Government Center Building
201 West Front Street
Media, PA 19063

Click the link below for a change of address request form:

Delaware County Change of Address Request Form

Since the personal financing and mortgage company arrangements of the taxpayer can change, and since taxpayers frequently refinance their property and since the predecessor company does not correspond with the successor company, and in order to avoid claims of non-delivery, tax bills are only mailed to the property owner of record, not to any designated finance or mortgage company.

Effect of Failure to Receive a Tax Notice. (Local Tax Collection Law, Section 7)

Failure to receive notice shall not relieve any taxpayer from the payment of any taxes imposed by any taxing district, and such taxpayer shall be charged with his taxes as though he had received notice.

Duplicate Tax Bills and Tax Certifications, Non-Receipt of Tax Bill

Duplicate tax bills and tax certifications are available through your local tax collector.

If you do not receive your tax bill, please contact the tax collector for your municipality.

Installment Payment of Property Taxes

The district allows installment tax payments of property taxes, which is authorized by Act 1 of 2006. All taxpayers (commercial as well as residential) are allowed to pay their regular, (not interim), property taxes in three installments.

Property tax installment payments are due as follows:

• First payment is due by October 31

• Second payment is due by November 30

• Third payment is due by December 31

When the annual property tax bills are mailed by the district on or about July 1, two types of bills are sent to the taxpayer in one envelope. One bill allows for the payment in full of the tax amount due; the other bill allows the option of paying in three installments. Payment of the first installment by October 31 indicates that the taxpayer has elected to use the installment payment option. The payment history at GVSD indicates that about 10% of the tax bills are paid on an installment basis.

The installment payments are required to be paid at the face, (not discount or penalty) amount. If a homestead property tax relief amount is applicable in a given tax amount, then that tax relief amount is reflected in the amount of total tax due at face, and then pided by three to yield the net installment amount due.

If a taxpayer pays only one or two installments, the remaining installments due and outstanding are liened in February. Any installment payment that is accepted and processed by the tax collector after the installment original due date must include a 10% penalty payment.

Payment of Tax Bill

Any full or installment payment for regular tax bills (not interim bills) should be sent to the district's lockbox at TD Bank; payment information is then forwarded to the tax collectors and the district daily. Please be sure to include the invoice from the tax bill in your payment to the lockbox.

Electronic Check Payments

Electronic checks should be sent to the tax collector’s municipal location and not TD Bank. The account section must contain the folio number appearing on the tax bill. Electronic checks can be used for full payments only and not in payment of interim or installment tax bills.

Partial Payments of Property Tax (as distinct from installment property tax payments)

The tax collectors, the district, and the bank are all prohibited by law from accepting any partial property tax payments. Partial tax payments will be returned to the taxpayer unprocessed. If an unpaid property tax is liened with the county, then partial payment arrangements for the payment of the delinquent tax can be created with the county.

Interim Real Estate Tax

Interim taxes are levied under Act 544 of 1952 (Section 677.1) on the change in the assessed value of local property as a result of construction, improvements, or demolition to that property during the school tax year. This assessment change and related tax does not appear on the tax duplicate until the next year when the change is adjusted to the prior assessed value.

Assessment changes are made monthly by the Delaware County Board of Assessments. You will receive an interim bill from your tax collector once your construction, improvement, or demolition project has been completed and the assessor has had the opportunity to reassess your property. The time period for payment of your interim bill will vary from your current real estate tax bill depending upon when the change is processed by the County. All interim tax payments must be made to your local tax collector.

Homestead Exclusion Program

The legislature approved homestead exclusions as part of Act 1 of 2006. This Act allows school districts the ability to reduce property taxes for approved homesteads, based on dedicated revenue received from the state. This dedicated property tax relief revenue is generated from the state's tax on casino slot machine gambling revenues, and is available only in those years that sufficient tax revenues are generated from gambling to allow a state-wide distribution. The homestead exclusion reduces the assessed values of homestead-approved properties, reducing the school property tax.

All approved homesteads in the district get exactly the same amount of assessment reduction and related tax relief, regardless of the property's total assessed value. The amount of tax relief will vary from year to year, based upon both the amount of total tax relief funds distributed by the state to the district, as well as the total number of approved homestead properties in the district for a given fiscal year. Any authorized tax relief appears on the annual property tax bill as a credit, reducing the total amount of tax due; the taxpayer does not get a check from the district. 

In order to be eligible for this program, the homeowner must reside in a dwelling used as his/her primary residence. In general, the primary residence is the address where the taxpayer lives, where the taxpayer is registered to vote, and where the taxpayer's driver’s license is registered. Only one homestead approval is allowed per taxpayer; secondary vacation homes in Pa. do not qualify; and, if a homestead is claimed elsewhere (e.g. in Florida for example), the taxpayer cannot also claim a homestead in Pa.. Homestead tax relief is only available for full-year property tax bills; there is no property tax relief for any interim, part-year property tax bills.

Penalties and Disallowance of Homestead Exclusion:

(a) Civil penalty. In any case in which a homestead claim is filed with fraudulent intent, the claim shall be disallowed in full and a penalty of 25% of the amount claimed shall be imposed. The penalty and the amount of the disallowed claim, if the claim has been paid, shall bear interest at the rate of 1.5% per month from the date of the claim until repaid.

(b) Criminal penalty. The claimant and any person who assisted in the preparation or filing of a fraudulent homestead claim commits a misdemeanor of the third degree and, upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding $1,000, or to imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both.

(c) Disallowance for receipt of title. A claim shall be disallowed if the claimant received title to the homestead primarily for the purpose of receiving property tax rebate.

How to file an application for homestead exclusion

To receive a homestead exclusion on your property, you must request an application with the school district. Once you are determined eligible, you will receive the exclusion that has been implemented by the school district. To request an application for Garnet Valley School District, contact Patricia Sharp, Garnet Valley School District at: 610.579.7374; or, by mail:

Patricia Sharp, Homestead Coordinator, Garnet Valley School District
 Garnet Valley School District
Garnet Valley Education Center
80 Station Road
Glen Mills, Pa., 19342

The filing deadline for qualified applicants to receive consideration for a homestead exemption for property taxes is March 1. Residents can only apply through their school district during the open enrollment period, which occurs every December 15 through March 1 of the following year. There is no application fee.

Once you complete the application, you must send it to:

Board of Assessment
c/o Homestead Coordinator
201 W. Front St.
Media, PA 19063

Once the application is received in the Board of Assessment, that office will mail you a response within 30 days.

How to check the status of your homestead 

• Go to the Delaware County Courthouse and Government Web Site:
  https://delcopa.gov/treasurer/homestead.html 

Delinquent Real Estate Taxes

Delinquent taxes are those taxes that were not collected during the original tax period in which they were issued with the result being a lien on the property for delinquent tax. When tax payments are not received by the tax collector by the December 31st deadline, the tax is considered delinquent and it is liened with the Delaware County Tax Claim Bureau by the end of February. Once a property has been liened, all taxpayer payments thereafter are made directly to the Bureau. The school district and tax collectors are no longer involved in the payment process. Residents may call the Delaware County Tax Claim Bureau for further information and to arrange for payment schedules at 610-891-4293.

The school district's delinquent tax revenue represents remittances from the county for tax payments made by the property owner subsequent to the lien date. Delinquent tax revenue includes the tax revenue classified as delinquent, as well as any related interest and penalties, net of the county five percent commission (collection fee).

Real Estate Transfer Tax

Transfer tax is levied under Act 511 at the rate of one half of one percent (.5%) of the value on the transferring of real estate or interest in real property situated within the boundaries of the school district.