FL Special Assessments

Enhancements were included in the October 2020 PACS Release.  The following document will reference changes made to Special Assessments:

Special Assessment Changes

This functionality was included as of October 2020

Purpose

Added functionality to include Proposed Rates for Special Assessment.   This is a new way of importing special assessment hearing information, rate, proposed rate at the iteration level from an .xls file

Prerequisite

Must have the following User Right:  Import> Special Assessment Hearing Information (Execute)

Procedure
To access, user will browse to: PACS Menu > Import > Special Assessment > Special Assessment Hearing Information

• Special Assessment Hearing Information – This dialog will allow the user to import all hearing information related to the Special Assessment
• The dialog will include the following fields:
  • • Year – This field will always display the current tax year
    • Import File Path – location of the file.  The file must be located in a valid network path (the path must being with \\) and must be in an excel workbook (.xlsx)
    • Import

Note:  The special assessment agency in the import file must be a valid special assessment agency in the system.  If it does not exist, the user will receive:  The Special Assessment (X) does not exist.

Result

If all options are valid, the application will import the hearing information.

If there is only one iteration and only one rate for the assessment, the rate and proposed rate being imported will be copied over to the rate and proposed rate for that single iteration.

If there are multiple iterations or multiple rates, the rate will NOT be copied over.  This would give the user the ability to set the rate used in the calculation from the imported rate when the calculation is just a simple iteration.

The Excel file must be in the following format

Note: Any invalid data in the excel file will cause the Import to fail and the reason for the failure will be displayed in the PACS Inbox.

This is new functionality that is available as of October 2020

Purpose

The user can import Special Assessment Iteration Rate and the new Proposed Rate using this dialog

Prerequisite

The user must have security right:  Import > Speciall Assessment Iteration Rate Import (Execute)

Procedure

• User will browse to PACS Menu > Import> Special Assessment > Special Assessment Iteration Rate 
• The dialog will contain the following fields
  • Year – This field will allow the user to select the year for the import.  Only uncertified years are available for selection
    • Default will be current assessment year
    • The user may select Future Year if desired
  • Import File Path – this allows the user to choose the file desired
    • The file must be located in a valid network drive (the path must begin with \\)
    • The file must be in an Excel workbook (xlsx) and must use the correct format
  • Import Button – this will import the special assessment iteration rate and data
    • If all options are valid, the application will clear the old rate data and import the new rate data to the [special_assessment_iteration_rate] table and the [special_assessment_agency_rate_schedule] tables.

Note:  Any invalid data in the excel file will cause the Import to fail and the reason for the failure will be displayed in the PACS Inbox

All special assessments in PACS are calculated exactly the same way – namely, Fee Amount = Units x Rate.  The only thing that differs from one special assessment to the next, or even from one property to the next is how the number of units or the rate for a given property is chosen.

Simple HOA Fee Example:  

Considering a simple scenario where the Special Assessment is a $200/year HOA fee for houses in a neighborhood – it doesn’t matter how big or small the house is or any of that.  In this case, the Units = 1 (for 1 house) and the Rate = $200.  This can be set up in the Fee Builder quite easily. 

The dialog changed slightly as of October 2020

There were minor changes introduced to the Proposed Rate and Rate fields.

• Rate  – Previously the Rate field is set to the rate value of the first iteration when it is modified by the user .

• If there is only one Iteration and only one rate on the Edit Fee screen , bi-dimensional change will be allowed

• • Hearing Import Rate and Proposed Rate will be copied to Iteration level rate.
  • Any manual change of Rate and Proposed Rate on Special Assessment Details dialog will be copied to Iteration level rate. 
  • If Edit Fee screen Iteration Rate or Proposed Rate is changed , the Rate  and Proposed Rate of the iteration will be copied backward over to the Hearing Rate and Proposed Rate respectively on the Special Assessment Details dialog. 

•  
• If there are more than one Iterations:

• • Hearing Import Rate and Proposed Rate will not be copied to Iteration level rate.
  • Rate and Proposed Rate on Special Assessment Details dialog will be read-only , so no changes can be made manually.

• • No rate from Edit Fee screen will be copied backward over to the Hearing Rate on the Special Assessment Details dialog after any changes to Edit Fee screen. The Special Assessment Details Dialog Rate and Proposed Rate will continue showing their original values. (This is a change in current behavior where we were coping the first rate of the first iteration.)
• Proposed Rate
  • This field will behave like Rate regarding how it is copied

• • Enabled
    • The Proposed Rate will be disabled by default.
    • The Proposed Rate field will be enabled when the data is entered through Import or Quick Entry.
    • The Proposed Rate will be enabled when the data is entered by the user other than Import or Quick Entry , that is using the Fee Builder and there is only one iteration and one rate.
    • For all other cases it will be disabled.

• • Value
    • The value can be set by user through the Special Assessment Hearing Information Import process
    • The value will be set to the iteration proposed rate when there is a single iteration and single proposed rate and the user opens the Fee Builder.
    • If the user modifies the proposed rate manually, and there is a single iteration and single proposed rate we want to also update the proposed rate for that iteration.
    • For multiple iterations or multiple rates , the proposed rate on the Special Assessment Details dialog will not be affected by any Iteration Proposed Rate.

These changes were introduced as of October 2020

Menu Option: PACS Search à Special Assessment Agency > Special Assessment Agency Detail >  Import File >Import

• Rate
  • The Rate field next to “Import Units, Calculate Fee Using Rate” will always be disabled.
    • The value of this field will be populated from the Rate field on the Special Assessment Details dialog.