If you own a home in Lititz, Warwick Township or elsewhere in Lancaster County, you received an envelope from the county this summer with a new number in it: your property’s reassessed value. That number will be the basis for your property tax bills starting next year.
Here is what the countywide reassessment means, and what it does not.
The timeline
Lancaster County mailed reassessment notices to property owners on June 15, 2026. Owners who disagreed with their new value had until Aug. 3, 2026, to file a formal appeal with the county’s Board of Assessment Appeals.
The new values take effect on two dates:
- Jan. 1, 2027 for county and municipal taxes, including Lititz Borough and township bills.
- July 1, 2027 for school district taxes, which follow the school fiscal year. That includes Warwick School District.
The county’s previous reassessment took effect in 2018. Before that, values had gone unchanged for roughly two decades. Long gaps between reassessments let values drift out of line with the real market, which is one reason counties periodically start over.
Revenue-neutral, by law
The biggest misunderstanding about reassessment is that it automatically raises taxes. It does not, at least not overall.
Pennsylvania law requires each taxing body, after a countywide reassessment, to adjust its tax rate so that the reassessment alone does not increase its total tax revenue. In practice, because most assessed values go up, millage rates come down. The county, each municipality and each school district must first set a revenue-neutral rate. They may then raise taxes beyond that level, but only through a separate vote, and school districts remain subject to the state’s Act 1 limits.
That means the question for any single homeowner is not whether their value went up, but whether it went up more or less than the average in their taxing district.
Who pays more and who pays less
- If your property’s value rose faster than average, your share of the tax burden grows, and your bill will likely rise.
- If it rose about the same as average, your bill should change little, apart from any separate rate increase.
- If it rose slower than average, or fell, your bill will likely go down.
Because Lititz-area home values have grown significantly since 2018, homeowners should compare their increase with the overall change in their municipality and school district once the new revenue-neutral rates are set.
What to do now
The formal appeal deadline for the 2027 values has passed. A few things owners can still do:
- Watch for the new millage rates. Municipal budgets are adopted in December. Warwick School District will set its rate as part of its budget, due by June 30, 2027.
- Estimate your bill. Multiply your new assessed value by each new millage rate (divided by 1,000) to estimate each tax.
- Check your homestead exclusion. Pennsylvania’s homestead and farmstead exclusions, funded by state gaming revenue, reduce school taxes for owner-occupied primary residences. Make sure your application is on file with the county.
- Look into the Property Tax/Rent Rebate program. Older adults, widows and widowers, and people with disabilities who meet income limits may qualify for state rebates.
- Ask about future appeals. Owners can generally file annual appeals in later years under the county’s regular appeal schedule if they believe their value is wrong.
Where to find information
The Lancaster County Property Assessment office posts reassessment information, value lookups and appeal procedures on the county website. Municipal and school district budget documents, including proposed millage rates, are posted on each body’s website ahead of adoption votes.
For more on the Warwick School District budget process, read Warwick School Board: Who Serves, When It Meets and What’s Next. Follow tax and money news in our Finance section.