Distribution

Navigate: Closed Tax > Distribution > Distribution

Description

Distribution is the process of distributing the funds received through Cashiering. You can perform distributions daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, etc. Before performing distributions, you must enter and balance payments. Distribution uses the functional calendar to determine the beginning date for calculating year-to-date collections and year-to-date distributions.

Different selection criteria exists for the distribution of Property Tax, Trust Taxes, Business Licenses, and Miscellaneous Charges. So, each revenue source has a different predistribution record and a separate distribution. Select a predistribution to distribute and then select the various other criteria.

California

  • Aumentum Distribution apportions a predetermined percentage of the non-fixed charge district's secured original charge (excludes fixed charges). Per 'Calculate Original Charge' functional area, the secured original charge includes Ad Valorem Taxes Land Only Special Assessments. Distribution uses the Secured Advance Apportionment predetermined percentage to establish the target advance amount for each non-fixed charge district for the Current Year Secured Roll.

  •  The secured advance target amount is calculated for the apportionment cycle for each non-fixed charge district at the tax component level (General Purpose Debt Service Land Only) for the district's original charge: District Secured Advance Gross Amount (by tax component) = District Original Charge (Secured by tax component) * Apportionment Predetermined Percentage (Apportionment Cycle).

  • The secured advance net amount for each non-fixed charge districted is calculated as follows: District Secured Advance Net Amount = District Secured Advance Target Amount + District Secured Advance Adjustment Amount - District Secured Advance Administration Fee. To accommodate this, Distribution has been modified to store the percentage used when an entitled charge distribution is performed.

  • Predistribution performs a mid-year settlement against collections. The calculation takes the collections in the distribution period (beginning date from the Distribution functional calendar until the Through Date) and subtracts any advances distributions previously made in the same period.

  • An Entitled Percent column in the Distribution Process Option table allows the entitled charge percentage to be stored along with each record and that populates the Entitled Percent field on the Set up a New Predistribution screen based on the process type selected.

    • For Santa Cruz, the percentage is entered during processing of the predistribution and is then saved with the predistribution record.

    • For Riverside, the percentage is preconfigured and stored for the first (30%) and second (10%) secured advances so that selecting a percentage during predistribution is not required.

  • The levy fund subcategory has been configured to determine if a fund is classified as Teetered, Non-Teetered, or Modified Teetered.

  • The predistribution calculation has been modified to perform a modified teeter advance distribution when the Distribution Process Type = 23 (Entitled Predistribution Process).

  • A distribution process type of 24, Settlement to collections, allows the jurisdiction to perform mid-year settlements in which the advances (based on charges) are true to the collections.

  • The Set Up a New Distribution screen (Tax > Distribution > Predistribution > Search for Predistribution > New > Set up a New Distribution) includes the new types in the 'Distribution type' drop-down list. If the distribution source equals Entitled Charges (Santa Cruz), then the Entitled Process Type field displays the following available selections:

    • Current Year - Current Levy

    • Current Year - Original Levy

    • Prior Year - Corrections.

  • If the distribution source equals Scheduled Entitlement (Riverside), then the Entitled Process Type field displays the following available selections:

    • First Secured Settlement

    • Secured Settlement 1 (causes the Through Date field to display),

    • Second Secured Settlement,

    • Second Secured Settlement 2 (causes the Through Date field to display),

    • Second Secured Settlement 3 (causes the Through Date field to display).

  • The Through Date accepts entry of a date in the distribution year that is used to pull collections to be used in secured settlement calculations. Collections are pulled from the beginning of the distribution year/period through the Through Date and compared against entitled charge distributions in the same distribution year that have already been distributed. The Through Date is only available when selecting a secured settlement from the Entitled Process Type field. Otherwise it is disabled.

  • The Entitled Percent is not needed for settlement processes on the Predistribution screen. It is either disabled or defaulted to 100% (and also disabled) when selecting a settlement process in the Entitled Process Type field. If a Secured Settlement process is selected from the Entitled Process Type field, the entitled percent pulls the stored percent from the new table, DistEntitledSchedule.EntitledPercent.

    • NOTE: A predistribution can be further filtered when posting the distribution to allow different distributions (prior secured – supplemental, prior unsecured – supplemental, current supplemental, etc.) to be posted through distribution since the predistribution really only allows filtering by collections/charges and revenue source.

  • SETUP: Set up new predistributions via Tax > Distribution > Predistributions > Search for a Predistribution > New > Set up a New Predistribution. Set up Levy Fund details via Tax > Levy Management > Setup > Tax Funds > Search for Tax Funds > Set Up Tax Fund Details, OR Tax > Levy Management > Tax Entity Maintenance > Tax Funds > Search for Tax Funds > Set Up Tax Fund Details.

Riverside, CA

  • When redevelopment pass-through amounts are returned to the county by the RDAs, they are reallocated to the tax authorities that contributed to the RDAs.  Since these amounts are not tied to a specific PIN they require a method for redistributing them to the contributing TAF. Cashiering allows a payment to be allocated to TAFs so that when pass-through amounts are repaid by RDAs they can be cashiered and allocated to the specific TAFs the are due the funds.

    • The Secondary Rule List panel on the Manage Distribution Rules screen was created specifically for the district net apportionment amount (prior year secured). The system calculates the net amount to be apportioned to a district by factoring current year total adjustments (if any), Refunds (if any), and administrative fees (if any) during current tax year. The District Net Apportioned Amount = General Purpose +/- Debt +/- Adjustments +/- Penalty +/- Interest +/- .25 Percent Admin Fees +/- Cost +/- PTAC +/- Redevelopment Pass-Through +/- Tax Losses Reserve Fund +/- Accounting Fees +/- Treasurer-Tax Collector Fees +/- Teeter Debt Service +/-.

    • IMPORTANT: You will also need to set up TIF Adjustment Limits via Distribution > Setup > TIF Adjustment Limits > Maintain Redevelopment Limits

    • Set up Cashiering Miscellaneous Sources for this via Cashiering > Setup > Miscellaneous Sources. Select the Misc type of Payment in lieu of taxes and the Distribution method of TAF.

    • The CA Distibution Rule Allocation Report (Distribution Reports > SRS Distribution Reports) includes the secondary schedule defined. If amounts are adjusted you should see them in SubDistDetail where the SecondaryDistCalcRuleId != 0 for your DistHeaderId. Those amounts match the amount shown on the report for the secondary rule in the bottom section of the report. The top section shows the Pre-Distribution data that qualified for the Secondary Rule.

  • Aumentum Distribution calculates the distribution of PTAC Costs for each district. The formula for calculation is PTAC Costs Allocation Factors X Total Administrative Costs = PTAC Costs. The calculation of the commission pulls in the original charges and applies apportionment factors to spread the 1% general tax across TAFs. The calculation prioritizes so that the direct credit commission is calculated first, then the PTAC cost commission calculates second and uses the results of the first commission in its calculation. As with other commissions, the PTAC commission amount shows as a reduction to gross distributions on all distribution process and distribution history reports. However, the commission sums together on these reports with other calculated commission since only a single column exists to show all distributions.

    Set up an administrative (commission) PTAC fee via Tax > Distribution > Setup > Advanced Commission Setup. Set up the entitled distribution schedule via Tax > Distribution > Distribution Setup > Entitled Distribution Schedule > Set Up Entitled Distribution Schedule.

  • Unclaimed excess proceeds can be distributed back to taxing authorities using the prior year’s AB8 apportionment factors. To accommodate this, a distribution override rule was configured to distribute the tax sale excess proceeds. An EP Distribution process applies the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s costs to outstanding excess proceeds (aka surplus) amounts and applies the remainder of the proceeds to make them available for distribution. A distribution override rule has been configured that distributes the remaining applied unclaimed excess proceeds to taxing districts. A distribution commission to represent the .25 administrative fee was configured on Special Districts, County Fire, County Library, and County Road districts.

    Configure the distribution override rule via Tax > Distribution > Setup > Distribution Rules. For Collection Criteria, include the Charge Code of Tax Sale: Excess Proceeds. Go to Tax > Distribution > Setup > Agencies > Edit Agencies. Click Add in the Commission Fee panel to navigate to the Edit Fee Criteria screen. Click Add in the Commission Criteria List panel, select the item type of Charge Code, and select the .25 Administrative Fee Rule.

  • A new distribution rule collection called TAG Area and four new distribution calculation rules were added to accommodate tax distribution to specific TAFs within a TAG using predetermined percentage breakdowns for:

    • Racehorse Tax

    • Non-commercial Aircraft Tax

    • Highway Rental

Aircraft tax is configured as a tax type in Aumentum and is used in distribution rule collection criteria to identify non-commerical aircraft tax payments. Incorporated TAGs used to cashier racehorse and non-commercial aircraft have been configured to include at least one city tax authority with at least one general fund. Unincorporated and incorporated TAGs used to cashier racehorse and non-commercial aircraft have been configured to include at least one school tax authority with at least one general fund.  Incorporated TAGs used to cashier highway rental have been configured to include at least one supervisory road district tax authority with at least one general fund. Unincorporated TAG’s used to cashier highway rental have been configured to include at least one road tax authority with at least one general fund.

  • TAG/TA - City

  • TAG/TA - Schools

  • TAG/TA - Supervisor Road District

  • TAG/TA - Road

To use the TAG Area rule collection and associated rules, you will need to configure six new distribution rules, one each for incorporated and for unincorporated for racehorse tax, non-commercial aircraft tax, and highway rental on the Edit Calculation Rule screen (Distribution > Setup > Distribution Rules > Manage Distribution Rules > Edit Distribution Rules > [Add/Edit – Calculation Rule List panel] > Edit Calculation Rule > [Add/Edit]).

Racehorse Tax is configured as a miscellaneous source in Aumentum cashiering (Cashiering > Setup >Miscellaneous Sources > Set Up Miscellaneous Sources). When setting this up on the Set Up Miscellaneous Sources screen, the Misc Type should be Standard, the Tie to PIN checkbox must be checked, and theRate  Type should be Certified.

NOTE: Also see Sample Distribution Rule Calculation and Rule Configuration for TAG Area in the Edit Calculation Rule topic.

Steps

  1. On the Select a Predistribution screen, select an item in the grid.

  2. On the Edit Distribution Items and Amount screen, click Edit in the Items to Distribute panel.
  3. On the Edit Distribution Criteria screen, click Edit on any of the items available in the Criteria List panel.

    4. NOTE: Any items that have a Show Criteria button have too many items to display and are replaced with an Item Count value. Click the button to expand the window to show all items.

  4. Depending on the item you select, various fields are displayed in the Edit Criteria panel. For example, for certain items, this is no available edit criteria; however, if you select the Item type of Tax Authority Fund (TAF) or TIF, you can perform a search of items from which to select.

    • For TAF or TIF, enter any search criteria you know and click Search to return a list of items that match your search criteria and are displayed in the Available Items panel.

  5. Select the items you want to include in the distribution from the Available Items panel by checking the applicable checkboxes. Click the Add Selected Items button to move them to the Attached Items panel.

    • Click any items in the Attached Items panel and click the Remove Selected Items to move them back to the Available Items panel.

  6. Click Update in the Edit Criteria panel.

    • Click Cancel to discard your changes.

  7. Click Finish when you have finished editing all distribution criteria to save your changes and to return to the Edit Distribution Items and Amount screen.

    • Click Cancel to return to the Edit Distribution Items and Amount screen without applying any of the edits.

    • Click Close to end the task.

Distributing Funds and Reversing Distributions

CAUTION: Use great care when distributing funds.

IMPORTANT: It is recommended that you always run a Distribution report prior to actually distributing funds to ensure that the correct funds and amounts are correctly distributed.

Once you have distributed funds, you can reverse only the most recent distribution. You cannot reverse a distribution once payments have been generated.  

Further, you can reverse only certain types of distributions. See Distribution Reversal for details.

NOTES:

The report you can generate as part of of Predistribution is a tool you can use to review and estimate distributions before selecting the distribution for processing.

While distribution estimates may not be true estimates at the Predistribution stage, the report shows how the funds will be distributed provided you have created the predistribution to apply all rules (except for commissions, which are not applied during predistribution). Rules are set via Distribution > Setup > Distribution Rules > Manage Distribution Rules.

When you go through the  Predistribution process, click Print (instead of Distribute) to run a report of the distribution to view the fund distribution. The path for this is Tax > Distribution > Distribution > Select a Predistribution > Edit Distribution Items and Amount. Click Print to run a report of the distribution.

If after reviewing the report the distribution amounts are not correct, you can adjust the amount you previously distributed on the Adjust Distributions screen (Distribution > Distribution Adjustments > Adjust Distributions).  You can adjust amounts to:

  • An agency

  • A tax authority fund

  • TIF District

You can maintain distributions and add new distributions on this screen as well.

Adjusting Distributions

CAUTION: You can adjust a distribution only if:

  • The funds have been distributed to an agency.

  • The distribution period is still open.

You cannot adjust a distribution if a final distribution has been processed for the distribution.

Fiscal Disparity

Certain counties collect and distribute a fiscal disparity tax. If this is true of your county, the following must be true to include fiscal disparity taxes in your distribution:

  • Your county uses fiscal disparity.

  • You have the Distribution application setting Include Fiscal Disparity Processing set to true.

  • The Fiscal Disparity checkbox is checked on the Select Collections for Distribution Rule screen for the distribution rule you are using (Tax > Distribution > Setup > Distribution Rules > Manage Distribution Rules > Edit Distribution Rule).

  • The event type of your distribution is final.

Defining a Percentage or Flat Distribution Amount

For all types of predistributions, define the business date and description and amount to distribute, either:

  • Percentage - Default is 100% to distribute

  • Flat amount - Amount defined with no decimal places.

Distribution Role Security

This task is controlled by user role. Only approved predistributions for which you have security clearance to process are available for selection for distribution.

Dependencies, Prerequisites, and Setup

Distribution

  • Predistribution - An approved predistribution record must exist.

  • Edit Agency - Agencies must be set up. Each agency must have a revenue account and a commission fee associated with it. Also use this task to create agency mappings for fees, miscellaneous sources, tax authority fund, and TIF.

Accounts Receivable

  • Account Receivable provides the data for distribution and stores the data once distribution is complete.

Cashiering

  • Payment Collections - Payments need to be entered

  • Session Reconciliation and Back Office Reconciliation - The Cashiering session needs to be balanced.

Configuration Menu

  • Functional Calendar - A functional calendar for Distribution must be created for the 'year' (for example, 2007).

  • Systypes - This is user-defined:
    Charge Codes (for Fees and Miscellaneous sources)

Levy Management

  • Maintain Tax Authority - Set up at least one tax authority.

  • Set Up Funds - Set up at least one tax authority fund.

  • Set Up TIF Districts - Set up at least one TIF district.

Records

  • Account Maintenance - Revenue accounts that identify the agency where tax collections will be sent need to be set up.

  • A distribution record must exist before you can print distribution reports.

Tips

If a predistribution record was set up as a final distribution, you must distribute 100 percent of the collections.

A predistribution record may only be used once. When the distribution is complete, all other predistributions with the status of created or approved are marked as expired. They are not available for future distributions.

If the predistribution that you would like to work with does not display, return to the Set up a new predistribution screen to create a new predistribution.

The year is based on the through date of the predistribution.

The following are the required steps in the Distribution task:

  1. Select a Predistribution - Determine the predistribution to process.

  2. Edit Distribution Items and Amount - Use this screen to execute the distribution.

NOTE: Once you have distributed funds, you can reverse the distribution or adjust it.