MO Special Assessments

Special assessments, sometimes called benefit assessments, are not legally considered property taxes. Instead, they are special charges created to recover monies to pay for services or improvements that have a particular, direct benefit to lands and their owners. These assessments are authorized by the local government.

Important:  Special Assessments are not included in the levy process.

Purpose

Use this procedure to set up new assessment records upon notification from the special assessment agency.

Prerequisites

• In order to perform this procedure, the following user right must be assigned to your user ID:
  • Special Assessment > Create New Special Assessment Agency

Procedure

1. Choose File > New > Special Assessment.
2. In the New Special Assessment Agency dialog box, complete the Code, Description, and Type fields, and click OK.
3. In the Contact Information panel, click Add . Complete the primary contact information and click OK.

   Note   Bills will be mailed to the address specified in the primary contact information.

   

4. To create a special assessment in a future year layer (current year + 1), in the Special Assessments panel, click Add New Year.

   Note   This option will only be available when you are working in a future year layer. The button will be unavailable if assessment in a future year has already been added. Further, Penalty and Interest Rates are not copied.

   After creating the special assessment in the future year layer, the process will also copy the following information/amounts from the special assessment in the current tax year to the future year: Assessment Calculation Routines, Flat Assessment Fee (if specified), Administrative Fee (if applied), Special Assessment Exemptions.

5. In the Resolution section of the Special Assessments panel, complete the following fields:
   • Resolution Number
   • Resolution Date
   • Start Date
   • End Date

     The end date for the distribution run.

6. In the Vendor Mapping section, select the Vendor.
7. In the Comments panel, type in any required comments.
8. To add events for the special assessment, in the Events panel, click Add .
9. To specify the fiscal year for which the special assessment is effective, in the Fiscal Year panel, click Add .
   1. In the New Fiscal Year dialog box, complete the following fields:
      • Begin Month/Year

        Determines the start date of the fiscal year of the special assessment agency.

      • End Date

        Determines the end date of the fiscal year of the special assessment agency.

   2. In the Collection Year Balances section, click Add to add or edit a balance. Then, in the Add/Edit Balance dialog box, complete the Tax Year and Beginning Balance fields and click OK or Apply.

      The begging balance is the balance to be collected in the tax year.

10. In the Penalty and Interest panel, click Add to add new penalties and/or interest.
11. In the Images panel, click Add to add new images.
    • In the Add New Image dialog box, complete the Image Type, Record Type, Sub Type, Image Date and Effective Year fields, and choose one of the following options:
      • Scan Image

        Click the Scan button to scan.

      • Select and existing image

        Click the Browse button to browse for the image.

12. Click Save to save all details.

Next Steps

Once the special assessment agency has been created, you need to set up the special assessment agency’s calculation options. See Setting Up Special Assessment Calculation Options for detailed instructions.

Procedure

1. Open the Tax Area, Exemptions, and Special Assessments panel of a property record.
2. Click the User Values button in the Special Assessments section of the Tax Area, Exemptions, & Special Assessments panel.

   

   Note   If you want to add or delete any special assessment agencies from the list, click Add or Delete in the Special Assessments section.

3. In the User Values dialog box, click OK after modifying or viewing any user values associated with the special assessment.

   

Purpose

Use this procedure either to do one of the following:

• Import special assessment data that assigns special assessment agencies to properties and the corresponding assessment amounts
• Manage the Special Assessment Import Run List, which lists the special assessment imports that are currently ready to run, running, or have run. From this list, you can match properties, process the run, cancel a run that hasn’t been started, and view any exceptions with the run.

  Note   Once a special assessment has been certified in a given year, it cannot be changed or overwritten by subsequent imports.

Prerequisites

• In order to perform this procedure, the following user right is required:
  • Import > Import Special Assessments

Procedure

1. Choose one of the following:
   • Import > Special Assessment Import
   • Activities > Special Assessment Import Run List.
2. In the Special Assessment Import Run List, review the following information about the import run:
   • Run ID

     The integer primary key of the import run.

   • Record Count

     The number of records that the import contains

   • Matched

     The number of properties that are marked as matched.

   • Not Matched

     The number of properties that are not matched.

   • Status

     Indicates whether the import run is pending, processing, or processed.

   • Total $ Amount

     The sum of the bill_amount fields in the import run

   • Tax Year

     The year at which to begin removal.

   • Special Assessment Agency

     The special assessment agency for which the import is run.

3. To import special assessment records, click Add and do the following:

   

   1. In the General section, select the Special Assessment Agency for which to generate bills and update assessment information. Then select the Year that the import will update within.
   2. In the Please specify the mapping key section, choose either Property ID to use the property ID to match to properties, or Geo ID to use the geo ID to map to properties.
   3. In the Please specify type of update field, choose either Complete, which will remove all assessment information for the selected agency and year specified for any property IDs not in the import file , or Partial, which will update only the assessment information for the properties listed in the import for the selected agency and year specified.
   4. In the Please specify the type of import, choose either Property Special Assessment Attributes, which will import data from certified years, or Property Special Assessment User Values, which imports data from uncertified years.
   5. Browse for and select the assessment import file.
   6. Review the file details in the File Preview section to confirm that the file is in the correct format. Then click Import to import the file.
4. In the Special Assessment Import Run List, use the following options as required:

   

   • To cancel the import run, click Cancel Run.
   • If the import run has unmatched properties, to manage the unmatched properties, do the following:
     1. Select the run and click Match to display the Special Assessment Import Match Unmatched Properties dialog box.

        

     2. Either enter a property ID directly in the PACS Property ID cell or a geo ID in the PACS GEO ID cell, or select a row in the grid and click Match to display the property search wizard and search for a match.
     3. If a match cannot be found and you would like to change the status to No Match, click No Match.
     4. Click Update complete the process.
   • If an import has unmatched properties and you would like to print a report that lists the unmatched properties, select the import and click Print Details. In the Special Assessment Import Details Report dialog box, complete the output settings as required, and then click Preview or Post.
   • To print a summary report that lists the file name, agency code, mapping key, and total records and matches, click Print Summary. In the Special Assessment Import Summary Report dialog box, complete the output options as required, and then click Preview or Post.
5. Click Process to update the assessment information and generate bills.

If your office does not receive special assessment data with an import, use the following procedures to enter special assessment data manually.

If your office does receive special assessment data with an import, proceed to the Importing Special Assessment Records activity.

In This Section

Updating Properties with Tax Areas and Special Assessments

Summing Fire Patrol Benefit Acres by Owner

Adding Assessment Fees or Attributes/Special Assessment Quick Entry

Generating Special Assessment Quick Entry Reports

Purpose

Use this procedure when you need to do one of the following:

• Change the tax area on properties, for example, when a tax area was assigned incorrectly to properties.
• Add a special assessment agencies to properties to indicate that the properties will be part of an assessment, or that they are within the boundaries of an assessment.

Prerequisites

• In order to perform this procedure, one of the following user rights is required:
  • Mass Maintenance > Mass Maintenance Admin
  • Mass Maintenance > Mass Maintenance Mass Update
• Assign a daily batch (see Creating a Daily Batch).
• The Mass Update Reason Code that you will use has been set up in  Tools > Code File Maintenance > General.

Procedure

1. Choose Activities > Mass Maintenance (Property) > Mass Maintenance > Mass Update Tax Area/Special Assessment.
2. In the Mass Update Tax Areas/Special Assessment Agent History dialog box, click Add.
3. In the Update Information section, complete the following options as required:
   • Batch

     The batch to be assigned to the process or tax areas.

   • Description

     Enter the tax area/special assessment description.

   • Year

     The year in which the values will be updated.

   • Reason Code

     A code that indicates the reason for the update.

   • Include Deleted Properties

     Select this check box to include deleted properties.

   • Type

     Choose one of the following:

     • Standard – Choose this option to enter your own selection criteria.
     • Property ID's – Use this option to enter the property IDs of the records to be updated.
     • SQL Query – Use this option to enter a SQL query that will retrieve and correct the property records.
4. Complete the following in the Selection Criteria section, based on your selection in the type field:
   • If you selected Standard:
   1. In the Property Level section, in each field, click and use the arrows to move items from the left column to the right column to select the codes to use as search criteria when searching for properties.

      Note  When entering multiple items, separate the items with commas.

   2. In the Land Improvement/Detail Level section, complete the following options as required:

      

      • Improvement Class

        The classification of the improvement type.

      • Improv. Sub Class

        A subdivision within improvement classifications.

      • Land Type

        Click and use the arrows to move items from the left column to the right column to select the land type to use as search criteria. Enter multiple items separated by commas.

      • Miscellaneous Code

        Click and use the arrows to move items from the left column to the right column to select the miscellaneous codes assigned to a property to use as search criteria. Enter multiple items separated by commas.

      • GLA

        A starting area range and ending area range in which to search properties by gross living area (the sum of all living areas classified as main area).

      • Acreage

        A starting acreage range and an ending acreage range in which to search properties by acreage (the number of acres of a land detail record).

      • Effective Age

        A starting effective age range and ending effective age range in which to search properties by the effective age indicated on any of the improvement detail records associated with the property.

      • Actual Age

        A starting actual age range and ending actual age range in which to search properties by the actual age indicated on any of the improvement detail records associated with the property.

      • In the table, complete the following options as required:

        

      • Feature Type

        Feature type to use in searching properties.

      • Feature Value

        The feature value for the corresponding type in the feature type column to use in searching properties.

   • If you selected Property ID's:
     • In the Property ID(s) section, enter property ID’s separated by comma or carriage return.
   • If you selected SQL Query:
     • In the SQL Query section, enter a SQL query to return property ID’s or click Get Query to select a query.
5. In the Tax Areas and Special Assessment Agencies section, complete the following option as required:
   • Tax Area

     The tax area to be assigned to all properties selected by the mass update criteria.

   • # of Properties to be Updated

     Indicates the number of properties that will be updated. To update this field, click Count.

   • Add Special Assessments

     Special assessment agency codes to be assigned to all properties selected by the mass update.

   • Remove Special Assessments

     Special assessment agency codes to be removed from all properties selected by the mass update.

6. To print a report that lists the properties affected by the mass update of tax areas, click Print.
7. Click Update to update the tax areas and special assessment information.

Purpose

Use this procedure to combine the benefit acres of owners who pay Fire Patrol/ Fire Protection assessment fees on two or more properties, thereby reducing the fee.

This procedure is run after certification.

Notes

(1) Properties whose acreage exceeds 50.00 are excluded.

(2) Deleted and preliminary properties are also excluded.

(3) Owners of multiple properties are selected by owner ID.

(4) Benefit acres are entered/recorded in the Special Assessment Attributes section of the Property Codes panel of each property.

Procedure

1. In PACS, choose Activities > Special Assessments > Sum Fire Patrol Benefit Acres by Owner.
2. In the Sum Fire Patrol Benefit Acres by Owner Dialog box, the county Fire Patrol/ Fire Protection agency is displayed in the Agency field. Now choose the following options:

   

   • Year

     The uncertified special assessment year where Fire Patrol/ Fire Protection does not have a status of Bills Activated or Bills Created.

   • Acres Field Name

     The property record field in which the sum value will populate (the value will be numeric).

     Note:   The Sum of Benefit Acres field is generally found in the User Values grid on the property Values panel. But your office could store this value in a different field.

   • Primary

     The bit field on the property record in which the primary property will be designated (a primary property will be designated from among the owner’s property group).

     Caution:   If the Primary option is not selected here, then this procedure will only update properties that are already flagged as Primary. Leave this option selected unless you are confident that the primary property in the owner group is already designated and that no new groupings were added (i.e., through sale or owner transfer).

     Note: On property records, the Primary Property for Fire Patrol field is generally displayed in the User Values grid on the Values panel. But your office could store this value in a different field.

3. Click Update to finish the procedure.

Purpose

Use this procedure to add special assessment fees or special assessment attributes to properties.

Prerequisites

• In order to perform this procedure, the following user rights are required:
  • Mass Maintenance > Mass Maintenance Special Assessment Quick Entry

Procedure

1. Choose Activities > Mass Maintenance (Property) > Special Assessment Quick Entry.
2. In the General section of the Special Assessment Quick Entry window, select a Tax Year and choose one of the following options:
   • Set Special Assessments

     Use this option to specify an agency and enter special assessment amounts for individual properties.

   • Update Special Assessment Attributes on Property

     Use this option to update special assessment attributes on a property.

3. In the Assessment Data grid, click Add and do the following:
   • If you chose Set Special Assessments, enter the property ID and the amount. Repeat as required for additional properties.
   • If you chose Update Special Assessment Attributes on Property, do the following:

     

   1. Click the column headings labeled <blank> to enable the drop-down lists and select the attributes to specify for the property.
   2. Enter the property ID.
   3. Repeat a and b as required for additional properties.
4. To review a report that lists the properties, fields, and current and previous values, click Print.
5. Click Update to apply your entries to the properties specified.

Purpose

Use this procedure to generate a report before or after updating data during the Special Assessment Quick Entry procedure.

Procedure

1. Choose Activities > Mass Maintenance (Property) > Special Assessment Quick Entry.
2. In the Special Assessment Quick Entry dialog box, click Print before, during, or after selecting the special assessment quick entry criteria.
3. In the Output Settings section of the Special Assessment Quick Entry Report dialog box, complete the Format, Filename and Description fields.
4. Click Preview to preview the report. Click Post to generate the report.

After rates have been sent from assessment agencies, use these procedures to calculate, certify, and create bills for each active special assessment in the current assessment year.  Special assessments whose rates did not change, or whose amounts were imported or entered directly, should also be processed.

In This Section

Setting Up Special Assessment Calculation Options

Calculating Special Assessments

Generating the Special Assessment Calculation Comparison Report

Calculating Special Assessments

Special Assessment Bills

Viewing Special Assessment Bills on Property Records

Viewing Special Assessment Details on Property Records

Certifying the Special Assessment Year Layer

Purpose

Use this procedure to set up the options to be used in the calculation of special assessment bills.

Prerequisites

• In order to perform this procedure, the following user right is required:
  • Special Assessment > Access Special Assessment Calculation Wizard
• For event mapping functions (Step 9 onward), the following user rights are also required:
  • Event Mapping > Setup Event Mapping
  • Event Mapping > View Event Mapping Change Log
  • Event Mapping > Validate Event Mapping
• The current year rates for the assessment agency have ben received.
• If you need to use customized fields in the Calculation Builder, the fields must have been created in PACS.ADMIN (Tools > User Table Management) for the user_property_val table. In addition, the fields, which are displayed and available for data entry in the User Values section of the Values tab of property records, must have been completed as required in the property records.

Procedure

1. Open the special assessment agency record. Then open the Special Assessments panel, highlight the required record, and click Detail.
2. In the Special Assessment Calculation section, choose one of the following options:

   

   • Special Assessment Import and/or Special Assessment Quick Entry

     Bases the calculation on special assessments that were imported or entered by quick entry.

   • Assessment Fee Builder and/or Flat Assessment Fee

     If you choose this option, then do one of the following:

     • To build a query to retrieve a group of properties and apply the special assessment calculation to them, select the optional Calculate Assessment Fee and click Assessment Fee Builder. In the Calculation Builder dialog box, set up condition statements for the query.
     • To enter a special assessment fee to be applied to each property, select Flat Assessment Fee Per Property and enter the amount of the fee.
3. If you chose Special Assessment Import and/or Special Assessment Quick Entry, proceed to the next step. If you chose Assessment Fee Builder and/or Flat Assessment Fee, do one of the following:

   

   • Select Flat Assessment Fee Per Property and enter the fee amount.
   • Select Calculation Assessment Fee. Then click Assessment Builder to use the following options as required in the Calculation Builder dialog box:

     

     • To add a condition, click Add and do the following:

       

       Note   As you make selections for the condition row, the clause is displayed in blue text above the Operand 1 row.

     1. Expand the plus sign [+] for the condition row. Then expand the OPERAND 1 row to specify a table and corresponding field name. (If required, you can use the user_property_val table to specify customized fields set up for your office. These fields are displayed and available for data entry in the User Values section of the Values tab of property records, must have been completed as required in the property records.
     2. Expand the Operand 2 row to specify a value for the clause.
     3. In the Operator row, specify the operator for the operands.
     • To insert another clause in the condition, click either AND or OR and specify the operands and operator. If you need to remove an AND or OR tab that you added, select it and click X.
     • On the Result tab, specify the final value or the calculation to determine the final value.
4. To add an administrative fee to be assessed in addition to the special assessment, in the Additional Fee section, choose one of the following options:

   

   • Flat Fee per Property

     If you choose this option, then complete the Fee Type and Amount fields.

   • Fee as a Percent of Assessment Fee
5. Choose Statement Options and Payment Options.
6. In the Supplement Indicator section, select the Recalculate as a part of supplement process check box if required.
7. To add a new exemption, in the Exemptions section, click Add .
8. Review the User Values section and modify values as required.

   

9. To set up distribution, click Distribution and do the following:

   

   1. In the Billing panel of the Special Assessment Agency Distribution dialog box, map events to bill processes by doing the following:

      i) To add a new row, click Add.

      ii) Complete the following options as required:

      • Event

        An accounting event.

      • Action

        The type of transaction to be entered in the account.

      • Account Number

        The account the transaction is entered for.

      • Primary

        Select this check box to select this account as the primary account number used for reporting and other purposes.

      • Type

        The type of account, such as accounts payable or cash.

      • Description

        Description of the account.

   2. In the Collection panel, map accounts to the payment process by doing the following:

      i) To add a new row, click Add.

      ii) Complete the grid using the fields noted above.

   3. In the Disbursements panel, map accounts to the disbursements process by doing the following:

      i) To add a new row click Add .

      ii) To use the balance of the Disburse From account as the maximum that can be disbursed from this levy fund, select the Disburse From check box and select the account.

      iii) Complete the grid using the fields noted above.

   4. In the Refunds panel, map accounts to refund process by doing the following:

      i) To add a new row, click Add .

      ii) Complete the grid using the fields noted above.

   5. Use the following options as required:
      • To open the Event Mapping Change Log, click Change Log.
      • To run the validate event mapping process, click Validate.
      • To add a debit and credit row for every event code available for each panel, click Add All.
10. Click OK or Apply to save the changes.

Purpose

Use this procedure to execute the assessment calculation.

Prerequisites

• In order to perform this procedure, the following user right is required:
  • Special Assessment > Access Special Assessment Calculation Wizard

Procedure

1. Choose Activities > Special Assessments > Calculation Wizard.
2. On the Selection Page of the Special Assessment Calculation Wizard, select the Year and choose Calculate.
3. In the grid, select the special assessments that should be processed.
4. Click Next.
5. Review the Summary Page and click Finish to perform the calculation process.

Purpose

Use this report to compare a special assessment agency’s calculation totals over a two-year period.

After running the report and verifying changes, it may be necessary to modify the property records and/or calculations, and then recalculate the special assessment.

Procedure

1. Choose Reports > Special Assessment Calculation Comparison Report.

   

2. Select the years for comparison and, in the grid, review the special assessment agencies for which the calculation process has been completed. Select the agencies to compare.
3. Choose one of the following options:
   • By Amount

     If you choose this option, then complete the Minimum Gain and Minimum Loss.

   • By Percent

     If you choose this option, then complete the Percent Gain and Percent Loss.

     Note The gain is the increase in the special assessments dollar amount from year to year, while the loss is the decrease. It may be be helpful to enter $00.01 as the minimum gain and minimum loss and run the report to display any change in amount.

4. Select from the following print options as required:
   • Print Gain/Loss Detail Report Section

     If you select this option, the report will show gain/loss details per property.

   • Print Gain/Loss Summary Report Section

     If you select this option, the report will show a summary of gain/loss on the assessment amounts.

   • Print New Special Assessment Properties Report Section

     If you select this option, the report will also display in a separate section (titled “New for 2018”) the properties that have been newly added to the assessment agency in the reference year and did not exist in the prior year.

   • Print Excluded Special Assessment Properties Report Section

     If you select this option, then the report will also display in a separate section (titled “Existed in <Prior Year> but excluded from 2018”) the properties that existed in the prior year on the given assessment agency but have been excluded in the reference year.

5. To set the output settings, complete the following fields in the Output Settings section:
   • In the Format drop-down list, select the report output format.
   • In the Filename field, enter the report file name.
   • In the Description field, enter a report description.
6. Click Preview to preview the report. Click Post to generate the report.

Result

The report displays the total number of properties, plus any new or removed property counts. Details of each property difference display on subsequent report pages. Use the report to verify changes and identify issues. If necessary, modify the calculation builder with new rates, calculate special assessments, and rerun the Special Assessment Calculation Comparison Report.

Purpose

Use this procedure to certify the special assessment.

Prerequisites

• In order to perform this procedure, the following user right is required:
  • Special Assessment > Access Special Assessment Calculation Wizard
• The Special Assessment Calculation Comparison Report has been reviewed, and all changes and calculations are complete.

Procedure

1. Choose Activities > Special Assessments > Calculation Wizard.
2. On the Selection Page of the Special Assessment Calculation Wizard, select the Year and choose Certify.
3. In the grid, select the special assessments agency to process.
4. Click Next.
5. Review the Summary Page and click Finish to perform the calculation process.

   Note  Once a special assessment has been certified in a given year, it cannot be changed or overwritten by subsequent imports.

In This Section

Creating Special Assessment Bills

Undoing Special Assessment Bills

Activating Special Assessment Bills

Purpose

Use this process to create new special assessment bills.

Prerequisites

• In order to perform this procedure, the following user right is required:
  • Special Assessment > Special Assessment Bill Functions > Create Special Assessment Bills

Procedure

1. Choose Activities > Special Assessments > Create Bills.
2. In the Create Special Assessment Bills dialog box, select the special assessments for the bill creation process. To view details on any of the special assessments, select a record and click Details .

   Note   Only certified assessments are displayed in the grid.

3. Select the effective due date for the bills and click Post to generate the special assessment bill.

Purpose

This procedure is optional in processing special assessments.

Use this procedure if you need to delete special assessment bills because calculations were incorrect and need to be changed.

Undoing special assessment bills allows you to calculate bills again.

Procedure

1. Select Activities > Special Assessments > Undo Create Bills.
2. Click Post.

Purpose

After creating bills for a special assessment, use this process to activate the bills.

Caution Once bills are activated with this procedure, they cannot be undone.

Prerequisites

• In order to perform this procedure, the following user right is required:
  • Special Assessment > Special Assessment Bill Functions > Activate Special Assessment Bills

Procedure

1. Choose Activities > Special Assessments > Activate Bills.
2. In the Activate Special Assessment Bills dialog box, select the special assessments for bill activation.
3. Click Change Batch and select the batch as required.
4. Click Post.

Purpose

Use this procedure to view special assessment bills reflecting the administrative and operational costs of special district special assessments imposed on properties within that district benefitting from the special district’s operations and facilities.

Procedure

1. Open the property record you wish to view the special assessment bill for.
2. Open the Tax Due panel and click the Bills tab.

   

3. In the Special Assessment Bills section, click Detail to view the special assessments for the property.

Purpose

Use this procedure to view special assessment agencies that are associated with the property tax account for a year layer.

Procedure

1. Open the property record you wish to view the associated special assessment agencies for.
2. Open the Tax Area, Exemptions & Special Assessments panel and view the special assessment agency details for the property in the Special Assessments grid.

   

3. To view detailed information on a specific special assessment, highlight the row and click Details . Open the Special Assessments section. You can review and edit the detailed information on the special assessment, including tax year, status, date created, date calculated, and create date.
4. To review additional information based on an individual year, highlight the year and click Details.

Purpose

Use this procedure to certify the special assessment year layer.

Caution Execute this procedure only when all corrections have been made and the comparison report has been reviewed. No changes can be made to the assessment after certifying for the year.

Prerequisites

• All assessments are certified.
• In order to perform this procedure, the following user right is required:
  • Special Assessment > Certify Special Assessment Year

Procedure

1. Choose Activities > Special Assessments > Certify Special Assessment Year.
2. Click Yes.