WA Bill Adjustments

These procedures will outline steps for the use of bill fee codes. It will review

• Creation of  bill fee codes within PACS.
• Generating Reports for properties coded.
• Performing property searches to produce listings.

The bill fee codes can be used to:

• Group bills together
• Override standard penalty and interest (P&I) calculations
• Excluding properties from collections data exports
• Alert users that an adjustment code has been applied to a property record when the record is opened.
• Allow partial payments to be posted to bills.
• Allow properties coded to be excluded or included from Delinquent Notices.

Purpose

Use this procedure to set up bill adjustment codes.  Note that all bills that are coded with a specific bill adjustment code will be affected by the settings that on the code.  If a setting under a bill fee code is changed all bills and fees that have the code on them will reflect the changes that are made.

Prerequisites

• In order to perform this procedure, the following user right must be assigned to your ID:
  • PACS Administrator > Code File Maintenance > Edit Code Files
• If fees need to be split in half to support half payments, the Allow Half Pay check box must be selected in PACS.ADMIN (Tools > Code File Maintenance > Collections > Fee Type) for the fees involved.
• If bills are to be posted as a partial payment the bills need to be coded with a bill fee code that has the partial payment indicator box checked.

Procedure

1. In PACS.ADMIN, choose Tools > Code File Maintenance > General > Bill /Fee Code.
2. In the Bill / Fee Code File Maintenance dialog box, click Add.   
3. In the Details section, complete the following fields as required:

• • Code

    The ID that displays on the bill/fee.

  • Description

    A description of the code.

  • Penalty 

% entered overrides system penalty calculations

• • Interest/Month

% entered overrides standard monthly interest calculations.

• • Alert User

    When selected, displays a warning dialog box, when in the Treasurer role, when a property is opened and has bill(s) or fee(s) with a code with this box checked.

    

  • Partial Payment Indicator 

Indicates the code will allow posting of partial payments to bills/fees that have this code on them.

• • Display on Warning Panel

    When selected, a yellow warning band displays in the warning panel at the top of a property record when the bill or fee code is set for the property record.

    For example:

    

  • Not Eligible for Half Pay

Indicates that the code will not allow half payment option.

• • Bankruptcy

    Indicates that the code is for a bankruptcy.

  • Deferral

    Indicates that the code is for a deferral.

  • Display on Mobile Home Movement   

4. Click Save.

Purpose

Use this procedure to apply bill adjustment codes to bills on an individual property.

Depending on how bill adjustment codes have been set up, applying the codes can result in property alerts, warning messages and penalty and interest changes etc.   To see what affect the code will have on the bills/fees that are coded,   review the code as outlined in Step 1.1  under Pacs Admin > Tools > Code File Maintenance > General > Bill /Fee Code.   

Prerequisites

• In order to perform this procedure, the following user right is required:
  • Set Bill/Fee Code

Procedure

1. Open a property record with the Treasurer role type. Then choose Bills/Fees > Set Bill/Fee Code.

   

2. Select the taxpayer.
3. Select the Statement Tab to code all bills within a specific statement id and year,  or select the bills tab to select individual bills or fees.
4. To change the display on the two tabs, select All, Current, or Delinquent as required, and limit the view to a specific tax year and tax district or special assessment agency combination.
5. Select the statement or bills to be coded by checking the selection box.
6. Click Next.
7. Select the code to apply to the bills, and if required, enter comments.
8. Click Finish.

Results

1. The bills/fees are coded.
2. An adjustment record is created showing the bill/fee coded that is added.
   • To see the adjustment line from the Audit Trail.
     •  Open a property record with the Treasurer role type select the Audit Trail Tab.
     • Select the Year for bills coded.  Lines with a Type of ADJLB and Action of Set Bill/Fee Code are listed for changes to codes.
     • Highlight a line item and select Details   to view the detailed information.

• To see the adjustment line from the Property Tax Due Tab.
  •  Open a property record with the Treasurer role type select the Tax Due Tab/Select the Bills Tab
  • Select the bill and Details
  • Highlight the Levy and select Details
  • Select the Adjustments tab and the details of the adjustment line. The detailed information screen will display.

Purpose

Use this procedure to update bill/fee codes on multiple property records for a specific year.

Important A property may have a bill with more than one bill/fee code in a given year. PACS does not automatically resolve this. If the user does not resolve this prior to running the procedure (recommended), the final code assigned to the bill is updated.

Prerequisites

The property records had the code applied in the year previous to the year you select in the procedure below.

Procedure

1. In PACS 9.0, choose Activities > Mass Maintenance (Bills) > Update Bill/Fee Codes on Bills.  A historic listing of updates are listed.

   

2. Select the option to Add
3. In the Mass Update Bill/Fee Codes dialog box, select the bill or fee codes to update and the tax year in which to apply the updates. Click Next.
4. In the Select Properties section, remove all properties from the list that should not have their bill/fee codes updated by highlighting the property and clicking Delete . You can also view the details of a property by highlighting the properties and clicking Details .

   Note On the Select Properties page, prior year supplement numbers are displayed rather than current year supplement numbers.

5. Click Next.
6. Review and verify the information in the Summary window. Once verified, click Finish to complete the update.

Procedure

1. Open a property record with the Treasurer role type. Then open the Tax Due panel.
2. Select the Bills tab.
3. Review the codes displayed in the Bill Code column. For example:

   

Purpose

Use this procedure to generate the bill/fee code listing report, which lists all bills/fees according to a specified bill/fee code.

Bill fee codes are codes that can be placed on a bill or assessment to:

• Alert the user to a specific circumstance that is associated with the assessment.
• Calculate a penalty or interest at a user defined percentage, based on what is set up for the code. (For more information, see Setting Up Bill Adjustment Codes.)

For example, if bills are in bankruptcy, then a BANK code can be set up and used as an alert. When a user opens the property, an alert warning message will be displayed at the top of the screen. In addition, a report could be printed to display the properties with a bankruptcy.

Procedure

1. In PACS 9.0, choose Reports > Bills > Bill/Fee Code Listing Report.

1. In the Report Settings section of the Bill/Fee Code Listing Report window, complete the following fields:
   • Bill/Fee Code

     Codes placed on a bill to indicate a specific instance such as bankruptcy or suit filed. Multiple of individual codes can be selected.

   • Tax Year

     Select a specific Tax year or All for all years.

   • Sort Order Select Property Id or Owner Name

1. • Summary 

     Select Summary for listing of properties with a bill fee coded listed by .  Uncheck the box to receive a detailed report displaying each properties bill/agency and fee that are coded.

     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.

       Note We recommend that you enter a specific description to help you to identify this report later. Reports can be displayed after they are generated under the Inbox option. The file name will be listed as the Subject, so a detailed description will help to better identify the report.

2. Click Preview to preview the report. Click Post to generate the report.

Purpose

Use this feature to add fee payment and fee balance transactions to a taxpayer/property record.

Note

After the fee has been created, users can assign the fee to the second half payment through the Set Half Pay Wizard on the property. In the Wizard, set the first half payment due to the amount paid, thereby making the total amount due in the second half payment (Bills/Fees > Set Half Pay Status). For more information, see Setting Half Pay Status.

If you need to add a Miscellaneous Fee, see Adding a Miscellaneous Fee.

Procedure

1. In PACS 9.0, choose one of the following ways to add a fee:
   • Open a Property record Tax Due panel, click the Bills tab, and click Add in the Fees section.
   • Expand the Fees and Excise Due panel of a Taxpayer record and click Add in the Fees section.

     

2. In the New Fee dialog box, complete the following options as required:

   

   • Fee Type
   • Year
   • Fee Amount
   • Due Date
   • User
   • Change Batch

     Click to specify a batch other than the default batch.

3. In the Assigned To section, search for and select the appropriate Account, Property, or Litigation record assigned to the new fee.
4. If you choose a property, complete the Statement ID.
5. Click OK.

Result

The fee is added to the record.

Purpose

Use this feature to add a new miscellaneous fee to an existing account or property.

Note If you need to add a non-miscellaneous fee, see Adding a Fee.

Prerequisite

• Account Number Configuration has been set up in PACS.ADMIN (Tools > Account Number Configuration). For more information, see Configuring Account Numbers.
• The Miscellaneous Receipting Template has been set up in PACS.ADMIN (Tools > Code File Maintenance > Collections > Miscellaneous Receipt Templates). For more information, see Setting Up the Miscellaneous Receipting Account Number Template.

Procedure

1. In PACS 9.0, open the New Fee dialog box with one of the following options:
   • Open a Property record, click on the Bills tab, and click Add in the Fees section.
   • Expand the Fees and Excise Due panel of a Taxpayer record and click Add in the Fees section.

     

2. Select MISC RCPT (MISCELLANEOUS RECEIPT FEE) from the Fee Type drop-down menu.

   

   The display of the New Fee dialog box changes to look like the following:

   

3. Complete the following options as required:
   • Due Date
   • Template

     Choose a template from the drop-down list. Any Account Codes associated with the template will appear in the grid.

   • Year

     Use the drop-down list to select the year.

   • Change Batch

     Click to specify a batch other than the default batch.

4. To add rows to the grid, click Add complete the following cells as required:
   • Account Code

     The number that represents the default offset account used for Miscellaneous Receipting.

   • Description

     Description of the account.

   • Template

     This is a read-only field displaying “Y” or “N” based on whether the row was created by selecting a template.

   • Amount

     Value can be either positive or negative. Negative amounts debit the specified account number, and will credit the offset account number during distribution.

     The total due is displayed at the bottom of the Amount column.

5. In the Assigned To section, search for and select the appropriate Account, Property, or Litigation record assigned to the new fee. If you select Property, specify the Statement ID.
6. Click OK.

Result

The miscellaneous receipt fee is added to the account or property record.

Purpose

Use this feature to manage non-taxpayer account fees.

Procedure

1. In PACS 9.0, open any one of the following records:
   • Tax District
   • Agent
   • Special Assessment Agency
   • Mortgage
2. Open the Fees panel.

   

3. Choose one of the following options as required:
   • View any existing fees. Click Details to see more information about the fees.
   • Click Add in the Fees section to add a fee to the non-taxpayer account.

     Note For information about adding a fee, see Adding a Fee.

4. If an existing fee has not been paid and you wish to modify the amount due to zero, highlight the fee and click Modify to 0.

   

   1. Complete the following options as required:

      

      • Change Batch

        Click to specify a batch other than the default batch.

      • Modify Date
      • Modify Code

        The code indicating the reason for bill modification.

      • Modify Reason

        Space for comment about reasons for modifying fee.

      • Bill/Fee Code

        Codes placed on a bill to indicate a specific instance such as bankruptcy or suit filed.

   2. Click OK.

Result

The fee is waived, and you are returned to the Fee view of the non-taxpayer account.

Purpose

Use this procedure to specify first half (H1) and second half (H2) interest start dates for tax due items with a due date that was modified with the supplement process or the modify bill process.

For example, if the Begin Date is changed with this procedure to 4/30/2008 so that 4/30/2008 is the new base date from which H1 interest is calculated, then H1 interest begins to be charged on May 1 instead of August 1 for H1 amounts. (In this example, the date 10/31/2008 is entered as the H2 Begin Date.)

Procedure

1. Open the tax district record’s Penalties and Interest panel. Then do the following:

   

   1. In the Begin Date cell, enter the base date from which H1 interest is to be calculated.
   2. In the H2 Begin Date cell, enter the base date from which H2 interest is to be calculated, assuming that H1 is paid.

   Note If the Begin Date and H2 Begin Date cells are left blank, the H1 effective due date of 7/30 is used as the base interest date for payments made on August 1 or later, and the H2 effective due date of 10/31 is used as the base interest date for payments made on November 1 or later.

2. Click Save.
3. Repeat this procedure as required for other tax districts.

See Also

For information about how the Use Original Due Date configuration setting affects the calculation of penalty and interest for a refund, see Configuring Original Due Dates.

Purpose

Use this procedure to modify bills in order to carry out activities such as:

• Writing off a balance due.
• Refunding money on a previously paid bill that now has a balance of zero.
• Adding an exemption amount.
• Change the current effective due date on bills.

Caution Do not modify bills or run the supplement Create Bills process while mortgage company payments and mailed-in payments are being processed in large quantities, or while running the Payment Import Prepare Run process. If you do so, your bill amounts will not match the incoming payment amounts.

Prerequisites

• In order to perform this procedure, the following user right is required:
  • Receipting > Manually Modify Bills
• If required, you have set base interest dates for items with modified due dates.

Procedure

1. Open a property record with the Treasurer role type. Then choose Bills/Fees > Modify Bills.

   

2. In the Modify Bill Wizard, select the taxpayer.
3. To change the display of the bills, select All, Current, or Delinquent as required, and limit the view of the bills to a specific tax year and tax district or special assessment agency combination.
   • To view a bill in the list, select it and click Details.

   

4. Select the bills to be modified. Click Next.
5. In the next Modify Bill Wizard screen, click Change Batch to assign a batch to the modification. Then specify the modify date, code, reason, and if applicable, the adjustment code. Click Next.

   

6. Select one of the following options from the Calculation Option drop-down list:

   

   • MN (Manual)
     • Enables you to change the taxable amount in the Taxable column and/or the tax due amount in the New Amount column.

       Note If you change the taxable amount, then tax due amount is automatically updated, but not vice versa.

     • Allows insertion of the bill adjustment code through the application.
   • NC (No Change) – Use this option when you only need to update the effective due date on a bill. (For example, to allow the taxpayer more time to pay without penalty.)

     Note When the NC (No Change) option is selected, the first half due date is set to the newly-selected effective due date. If the second half due date is earlier than the newly-selected effective due date, then the second half due date is changed to the newly-selected effective due date as well.

     To review examples, click here.

   • RB (Reset Bills) – Use this option if you have used one of the other calculation options, and before you choose Finish, you need to reset the bills to what they were previously.
   • TP (Modify to Tax Paid) – Does the following:
     • If no taxes are paid, modifies bills to zero amount due.
     • If payments have been made to bills, this option accepts that amount as all that will be received, and presents zero as the balance after modification.

       Note If a Miscellaneous Receipt Fee appears in the Fees section of the Modify Bill Wizard, the Calculation Option drop-down list will be disabled and set to TP (Modify to Tax Paid). The new amount will be zero.

7. If required, change the effective due date.

   Note If you change the effective due date for a bill or fee item, PACS applies the modified effective due date for all other items on the statement. In addition, if base interest dates have been customized for tax districts, then interest is calculated according to the customized date entries. For more information, see Setting Up Base Interest Dates for Items with Modified Due Dates.

8. Click Finish.

Purpose

Use this procedure to apply a half pay status to a property’s bills.

Note If you need to remove the half pay status from the property’s bills in the future, you can open the property and then choose Bills/Fees > Remove Half Pay Status.

Procedure

1. Open a property record with the Treasurer role type. Then choose Bills/Fees > Set Half Pay Status.
2. In the Set Half Pay Status Wizard, if you need to set the first half amount as the amount paid, select Set H1 Due to Amount Paid.

   Note This option is useful when half-paid taxes have to be manually increased, because the increase is applied to the second half amount.

3. Select the first half and second half due dates.
4. Select the items to be placed in half pay status. Then click Finish.

Result

If you selected the Set H1 Due to Amount Paid check box, in the property’s Tax Due panel, the amount due is displayed as $0.00 in the H1/Next Due column .

Purpose

Use this procedure to move bills and fees from one property record to another, or to a different taxpayer, in order to manage situations such as:

• Bill years that will no longer be supplemented.
• Mobile homes being relocated to another property.
• Back taxes that are due.

Prerequisites

• In order to perform this procedure, the following user right is required:
  • Receipting > Manually Move Bills and Fees

Procedure

1. In PACS 9.0, choose Activities > Mass Maintenance (Bills) > Move Bill and Fees.

   

2. In the Move Bills & Fees dialog box, select the property from which you had to move the bills and fees.
3. Select the property you wish to move the bills and fees to.
4. Select the taxpayer you wish to move the bills and fees to.
5. Click OK to complete the process.