Owners of tax-exempt property in the City of Philadelphia no longer need to worry about submitting recertification forms regarding the continued use of their property.

On April 7, 2015, Mayor Michael Nutter signed Bill 150144, repealing the law that required owners of tax-exempt property to annually recertify the property's exempt status.

As noted in our prior alerts, earlier this year the Office of Property Assessment (OPA) mailed owners of tax-exempt property forms requiring them to certify continued qualification for tax exemption and deliver supporting documents, with a March 31 deadline. In response to the uproar, the OPA extended the deadline to June 1, 2015, and eliminated many of the documentation requirements. The new law means that owners of exempt property need file nothing.

Although property owners are not required to certify the exempt status of their properties annually, the OPA remains free to audit the use of tax-exempt properties to determine whether the properties actually are being used for tax-exempt purposes. The OPA has not said what, if anything, it will do with the information already submitted by organizations that complied with the OPA's initial request.