Special Assessment Maintenance

Navigate: Tax > Special Assessments > Special Assessment Maintenance

Description

Create and maintain special assessments.

Steps

1. On the Search for Special Assessments screen, enter your search criteria and click Search. Entering no criteria when searching returns all results.

   • Code/Description – This field searches on both code and description. A special assessment is listed in the search results if the entered text matches either the special assessment code or the special assessment description.

   • Calculation type

   • Category – Special Assessment Categories are system- and user-defined systypes.

   • Tax Authority – Search by the Tax Authority attached to the special assessment.

   • Rounding method

   Three additional fields are displayed when you select Amortized Charges from the Calculation type drop-down list:

   • Bond – Search by the Bond attached to the special assessment.

   • SA type – Search by the type you selected on the Amortization Detail tab when setting up the special assessment.

   • SA status – Choose to search for Active, Inactive, Frozen, No Billing special assessments.

2. In the Search Results panel, you can click the column headers to sort the results in ascending or descending order.

3. Select a special assessment to work with. Depending on the task you are performing, you can select only one special assessment, or you can select multiple special assessments.

   • Click New to create a special assessment.

     NOTE: This option is only available through the Special Assessment Maintenance task.

   • Click the Description hyperlink.

   • Select the checkbox for one or more items in the grid and click Next in the Command Item bar.

   The screen that opens depends on the task.

   • If you clicked New, the Add New Special Assessment screen is opened.

   • If you clicked the Description hyperlink, the Add Special Assessment to PINs in Criteria Group screen is opened.

   • If you selected multiple special assessments, the Edit Special Assessments screen is opened. The first special assessment you selected is displayed; the remaining special assessments are accessible via the worklist in the sidebar.

4. On the Search for Special Assessments screen, click New.

5. On the Add New Special Assessment screen, enter a code.

IMPORTANT: Once you save the special assessment you cannot change the code.

6. Enter a brief description (64-character limit).

7. Make a selection from the Calculation type drop-down list.

   IMPORTANT: Once you save the special assessment you cannot change the calculation type.

8. Make a selection from the Category drop-down list to help you identify the special assessment later.

9. Enter the start year for the special assessment.

10. If you select the checkbox next to End year, a text box appears so you can enter the end year. If no date is entered, 12/31/9999 is used.

    NOTE: Amortized special assessments must have an end year.

11. Make a selection from the Installment to bill drop-down list.

12. Make a select from the Tax Authority drop-down list.

    OR

    Select <Create New> to open the Add/Edit Tax Authority pop-up. Tax Authority Funds are automatically created by special assessments. The Special Assessment Code is used for the Tax Authority Fund Code and Description.

    • Click Add to save the new Tax Authority, then click Assign to SA.
    • Click Cancel to close the pop-up without saving.

13. Make a selection from the Rounding method drop-down list.

14. Click Save in the Command Item bar. On the Edit Special Assessments screen, you can enter additional information about the special assessment.

15. Click List to return to the Search for Special Assessments screen.
    
    OR
    
    Click Close to end the task.

Maintaining Special Assessments

See Maintain Special Assessments.

Copying Special Assessments

1. On the Copy to New Special Assessment screen, verify the existing special assessment information in the Copy Special Assessment From panel.

2. Enter a Code for the new special assessment.

3. Enter a Description for the new special assessment.

4. Make a selection from the Calculation Type drop-down list. The default calculation type is the same as the special assessment you are copying from. Based on the existing special assessment calculation type and the new special assessment calculation type, the following options are copied:

   • Amortized to Amortized – Attached PINs, Initial assessment amounts, Questions

   • Amortized to Fixed or Rate Table – Attached PINs, Questions

   • Fixed to Amortized, Fixed, or Rate Table – Attached PINs, Questions

   • Rate Table to Amortized or Fixed – Attached PINs, Questions

   • Rate Table to Rate Table – Attached PINs, Questions, Rate tables

5. Select a special assessment category.

6. Enter a start year.

7. Enter an end year, if applicable.

   NOTE: If the special assessment you are copying to is amortized, the start and end years are applied to both the special assessment and the revenue object.

8. Select the Installment to bill.

9. Select a Tax Authority or choose to create a new tax authority.

10. Select an Amortization type if you are copying to an amortized special assessment.

11. Click Finish. The Monitor Batch Processes screen opens automatically.

Tips

Tax Authority Funds are automatically created when you create the special assessment.

If you are printing a report, the calculation type defaults to the types available for the report. The Amortization and Balance Due reports are available only for amortized special assessments. The Collections and Receivables reports are available only for Fixed and Rate Table special assessments.

Create new special assessment categories via Configuration > Systypes > Select or Add a Systype. Select Special assessment categories from the Systype Category drop-down list.

Dependencies, Prerequisites, and Setup

Note for implementors: The SA import screen supports UDFs to be prompted for each import instance. These should be created with ObjectType=SAImportType, ObjectId={SAImportType systype Id}. When the import is run, the UDF Data values are saved and associated with the SA Import Instance, so that they can be used in custom validations or calculations. Some UDFCds have special meaning:

• UDFCd = EffDateCntrl: When present, the IsHidden setting of the UDF will control whether the standard effective year control is shown in the upper right. A normal prompt is not shown.

• UDFCd = vtag: Will be prompted for as normal. If it has the value True for a given import instance, the import will be validated to ensure that each special assessment revenue object being imported belongs to a TAG that is associated to the Special Assessment. The Special Assessment application setting Associated TAG(s) to a Special Assessmentcontrols this.

Amortized special assessments

• Assessment Method - At least one assessment method must be set up if you are creating amortized special assessments.

Configuration Menu

• Sysytpes
  Amortized special assessment category
  Amortized special assessment type
  Special assessment amortization type
  Special assessment categories
  Special assessment deferral type
  Special assessment type

• User-Defined Fields - Set up before associating them with a special assessment.

• Application Settings

• The Associate TAG(s) to a Special Assessment application setting must be set to True to display the Associated TAGs tab on the Maintain Special Assessment screen.

• The Aggregate commission data for use by Distribution setting is used for aggregate processing, determines whether to use aggregate commission data for tax distribution. This setting determines whether fee/commission data, as defined on the Maintain Special Assessment screen and as set up on the Maintain Rules and Rates and Maintain Fee screens  is accumulated.

• The Inventory Valuation Threshold and Inventory Valuation Threshold-Value Type to use for comparison settings are set together. These set a revenue object value type minimum amount. The value type minimum amount is validated when running the Special Assessment Import, Criteria Associations, and Revenue Object Maintenance processes. If the Inventory Valuation Threshold is set to the default of 0.00, the process continues without performing the threshold validation. If value is defined, the following occurs:

• Assessment Administration provides the certified value for the value type indicated in the Inventory Valuation Threshold-ValueType setting (next setting in this table) to use for comparison for the year being processed.

• If the valuation is less than the defined threshold value, the PIN is skipped for the special assessment with the import report log message Valuation (n) does not exceed threshold, where n is the value returned by Assessment Administration.

• If the valuation is greater than the threshold value, the PIN is added to the special assessment.

• If Assessment Administration does not return a value (perhaps the value hasn’t been certified yet), the value is assumed to be 0.00, which triggers the rejection of the revenue object for the special assessment.

• The ValChange Reason used for posting of annual billing and ValChange Reason used for posting of roll corrections settings are set together. They define value change reason available for selection and to use when a value change is applied to a bill during annual posting and when posting roll corrections, respectively, e.g., Escape value discovered account, Change TAG, Eminent Domain, etc.

Records

• Legal Party Maintenance – You have to have at least one legal party attached to a special. The same legal party can be associated with multiple specials.

Dependencies

• At least one amortized special assessment must be created if you want to upload amortized special assessment file.

• At least one ditch special assessment must be created if you want to upload ditch special assessment file.

• Amortized special assessments must be set up before you can perform amortizations.

• Amortized special assessments must be set up and amortized before you can print various special assessment reports.