New Features
Released to Clients on 01/31/2018
This release includes the following additions and modifications to functionality:
1.1 Arbitration
Evidence (37810)
The goal of this project: allow configuration of multiple arbitration evidence packets by criteria. Similar to the new Protest multiple evidence packet configuration in R34.
- Configure arbitration packets from PACS Tools> Arbitration Maintenance > Default Evidence Packet Configuration …
- This new dialog lists all configured Arbitration default evidence packets in order.
- User can use ‘Move Up’ and ‘Move Down’ button to change the order.
- The ‘Year’ Combo box allows user to view/create default packet in different year.
- The single default evidence packet will be converted to multiple Years default packet for each PACS year.
- The Global Default Packet is always at the bottom of the list.
- The Global Default Packet is used when an Arbitration/Property does not meet the criteria of any other configured default.
- When user clicks ‘New’ to create a new packet the very first time, PACS will create a Global Default packet if there is no Global Default packet.
- For clients already have the default packet evidence configured, it will be converted to the new Global Default packet from Upgrade Script.
- The Default Evidence Packet Configuration Dialog is displayed when ‘Details’ or ‘New’ button is clicked.
- Packets can be configured:
– State Code – multiple selection
– Neighborhood – multiple selection
– Improvement Type – multiple selection
– Property Use – multiple selection
– Arbitration Type – single selection
– Arbitration Status – single selection
- To allow users to include:
- Letters
- Default Sales Comp Grid – process will include but not create the grid if it does not already exist
- Default Equity Comp Grid – process will include but not create the grid if it does not already exist
- Default Sales Ratio Report
- Appraisal Card – include image and sale price, include confidential sales.
- Field Review Card
- Income Worksheet – for the active income in the year of arbitration
- Global Default Evidence Packet’ – all criteria are disabled. PACS only allows one Global Default Evidence Packet configuration per year.
- When a User wants to generate default evidence packet from arbitration:
- PACS Appraisal > Arbitration > Evidence tab…
- Select ‘Get Defaults’
- System will match criteria from multiple configured default packets to the arbitration.
- If multiple properties are associated, each property will need to be matched to a default evidence packet.
- List the default files in the grid for User to create packet on arbitration
- For multiple properties, each property will be matched to the files included in a default packet. All files will be brought into the packet grid. The intent is to create a single packet to include all property files selected.
- Actions are still available to change order of files (move up/down), even though the default packet configuration indicated a sort order, where the individual property sort order may be different
- Select ‘Create Packet’
- Adds the packet to the Arbitration Evidence grid
- Assigns the Packet Display Name entered by the User or selected from the drop down when using code file packet names
- The following letter tags have been added for arbitration letters:
1.2 ARB Protest
Protest Evidence (35208)
The goal of this project: allow configuration of multiple packets by property and protest criteria with additional criteria.
- Configure ARB default evidence packets from PACS Appraisal> Tools > ARB Maintenance> Default Evidence Packet Configuration
- A new Criteria ‘Property Use’ is added –
- Populate from table [
property_use]
- Property value
[property_val].property_use_cd will be matched with the new criteria.
- New Document types are added:
- Calculation Worksheet (Property Calculation Worksheet)
a. All property types
b. From Property menu> Print> Print Calculation Worksheet
- Sale Evidence Packet Report (Residential TP Packet)
a. For residential properties only
b. Default sort by living area ascending
c. Report type SRSEP – Sales Residential Taxpayer Evidence Packets from TOOLS> Code file Maintenance > General > Reports
d. Comparable Residential Sales Search results > right click > Print > Report Taxpayer Evidence Packet
Protest Phone Hearing Functions (37719)
- The goal of this project: allow a CAD to track phone hearing requests.
HOUSE BILL 455 amends the Tax Code to authorize a property owner to appear by telephone conference call to offer argument at a protest hearing before the appraisal review board of an appraisal district and to require a property owner appearing by telephone conference call to offer any evidence by affidavit to the board hearing the protest before the board begins the hearing.
- Allow protests to indicate protester has selected a phone conference for the protest hearing
- The phone number can be selected from the phone numbers associated to the protesters on the protest
- The field can also be overridden by the user
- Once the protest is closed, text will display to state of the check box, indicating that the phone conference was or was not requested. The phone number will be retained to view if entered.
- Allow protest search by phone hearing indicator
- To find phone hearings needing to be processed
- To report on the number of phone hearings requested
- Display phone number in ARB Protest Search results – to allow user to contact protester without opening details of each protest.
- Add indicator that the hearing was actually held by phone conference
- To allow reporting on difference between phone hearings requested and performed
- The number displayed will be the same as the number on the General tab
- Once the protest is closed, text will display to state of the check box, indicating that the phone conference was or was not held. The phone number will be retained to view if entered.
1.3 BPP Renditions
The goal of this project: account for new legislation regarding the BPP Rendition filing deadlines
- The new functionality depends on entity configuration in PACS.
- A CAD where any entity grants a Freeport will use the shifted rendition deadlines. In order to use the shifted deadlines, please make sure at least one entity granting the Freeport is set up as shown below.
- Regulated entities will have a shifted deadline. Please indicate on the entity which applies.
- Rendition Form Changes (38262)
The goal of this project: account for changes to the BPP Rendition form based on the Comptroller form.
- The BPP Rendition printed from PACS will not change based on the entity set-up or shifted deadlines. As with the Comptroller form, the rendition is the same but indicates that multiple deadlines are possible.
- If any entity grants the freeport, based on how the entity exemptions are set up in PACS, the box for ‘Yes’ will be marked on all BPP rendition applications generated from PACS.
1.4 Online Portal
The goal of this project: Allow property tax agents to have controlled access to Online Appeals and additional online services supported by the OFFICE. Services include managing Agent association to properties (fiduciary filing), viewing published appraisal notices and filing Residence HS Applications.
- Taxpayers and Agents will navigate to the same page to login. The Online Portal will recognize whether the website user is logging in with an owner ID versus agent ID. Access to the Online Portal has been updated in reference to the login page.
- The user must login successfully in order to choose the service to access.
- Icons have replaced the drop down selection for services.
- Options are displayed based on the account type (owner VS agent) and the additional services supported.
- Taxpayer options include:
- Online Appeals
- Online Applications*
- Electronic Notices*
- Electronic Tax Statements*
*Additional fees may apply
- Agent options include:
- Online Appeals
- FID Maintenance*
- Online Applications*
- Electronic Notices*
*Additional fees may apply
- The registration process is the same for Taxpayers and Agents and has been updated
The goal of this project: allow property tax agents controlled access online to manage property protests. As a result, the Taxpayer and Agent experience is enhanced.
- Online Appeals has been updated for the Taxpayer and Agent access. When the user logs in and selects to access Online Appeals, the Protest Summary page displays.
- Multiple views are available for quick access to protest or evidence specific columns.
- A custom view allows the user to customize the column display. The customization is stored per user session, not by the registered account .
- Customize column display
- Sort columns
- Filter rows by:
- Property ID list
- Hearing Date
- Text search
- All Protest actions are accessed from this single page rather than from other menu options. *Options are displayed based on CAD configurations for allowable actions.
- View CAD Evidence
- View CAD Offer
- Upload Evidence*
- Schedule*
- Withdraw*
- The user can select one or multiple rows to perform actions.
- Settle
- Withdraw
- Export rows
- Efile is launched from this page. Selecting the EFile button will display the Property List.
- The Taxpayer will see a list of properties associated to the online registration. Eligibility will display as the first column.
- The Agent will have additional options to select properties for filing.
- FID Properties – to list the properties associated to the registered account
- Property List – allows the agent to enter a list of property IDs
- File Upload – allows the agent to upload a list of property IDs with a csv file
- Selecting Efile will allow the user to add filing information. Entering protest information varies between the Taxpayer and Agent login, where protest reasons are defaulted and opinion of value is not required.
The goal of this project: allow property tax agents controlled access online to manage association to properties and allow PACS users to review the online FID submissions.
In order to reduce the strain on CAD staff, the Agent portal is intended to place responsibility with the Agent for maintaining valid fiduciary association. Upon generating and providing the PID, an agent will be able to register and login to the agent portion of the Online Portal.
- FID Maintenance – the default ‘Home’ page for the Agent login displays the properties associated to the registered login. This includes the primary agent account and any associated PINs from the portal.
- The page allows the user to customize the column display. The customization is stored per user session, not by the registered account.
- Customize column display
- Sort columns
- Filter rows by:
- Property ID list
- Text search
- From here, the Agent can choose to revoke the FID by selecting one or more properties. A confirmation page can be printed for reference.
- The option to add a FID is accessed from the ‘Add FID’ button. An Agent can enter one or more properties to review and select assume fiduciary authority.
- FID Maintenance in PACS – FID submission are now included in the Online Application module within PACS, where PACS users can search, manage and approve FID submissions.
- Appraisal Notices (34960 )
The goal of this project: allow property tax agents controlled access online to published appraisal notices. The Appraisal Notice is incorporated into the FID Maintenance tool to assist in managing properties and protests.
- An Appraisal Notices column will be added to the FID Maintenance page column selection.
- When this column is included, the latest appraisal notice published for the property will be available to agents with chief appraiser authority in effect.
- Notice displayed is the available copy, whether an owner copy or an agent copy generated for a previous agent.
- Clicking the icon will open up the Appraisal notice to view, from where user will have the ability to print or save.
Note: Each Notice will need to be printed individually. There is no mechanism to print all notices from the FID Maintenance page.
- Online Applications (34959 )
The goal of this project: allow property tax agents controlled access online to Residence Homestead Exemptions with authority from Taxpayers.
Agent access to the Online Applications uses the same framework as Taxpayer access. There is no separation between Agent submitted and Taxpayer submitted applications in regards to the configurations below or how the application is processed. Changes were made to the Online Portal to allow the Agent to manage the applications.
- Configuration
- Image Code Assignment – the same image codes are used to generate the PDF and IMAGE files from the submitted application
- User Administration/User Rights
- Code File Maintenance – the same templates are used,
- Denial Codes
- Status Codes
- Message Templates
- Access – If the Agent already has a registered login he will have access to the Online Applications if the service is supported.
- The Online Applications page has been modified to allow:
- Property ID filter
- Search text field
- Owner Name column
- Column sort
- Page View
- Select number of records to display per page
- Apply – The function to apply for a HS exemption is not separate from a Taxpayer submission of the same. Filing has the same steps and validation requirements.
- The Agent can start the application and come back to finish if necessary. Button will display as ‘Continue’
- Completed application can be accessed. Button will display as ‘View’
- Process – The Online Applications search does not have any changes for the Agent filed applications. The PDF output generated from the online submission will indicate the application was filed online by either the Taxpayer or Agent.
1.5 Website Configuration
Configurations for the external website offerings can now be found within the PACS UI. This project will group the existing configuration options for Online Portal together, and add new configurations for Property Access and Online Applications that will allow users to customize more features without assistance from Systems.
The goal of this project: Allow PACS user to configure website offerings from a single location in PACS.
Property Access
Create a new dialog in PACS Appraisal that allows a user to configure new and existing settings for the Property Access website.
- Number of Years of Property Data to Display
- This is the number of years of property data that PACS will export to Property Access, including the current year.
- Filter the field so it can only contain a positive integer.
- Show Protest Information
- This existing setting determines whether [
_arb_protest_status] will be exported.
- Show Collection Owners
- This existing setting determines whether normal property owners or collection owners will be exported.
- Include All Collections-Only Properties
- When this existing option is enabled, PACS exports all properties with [
property_val].collections_only = 1 to Property Access.
- Display Economic Unit Links
- When this existing option is selected, PACS exports the [
income_prop_assoc] table to Property Access.
- Hide Mineral Properties
- PACS exports Mineral properties to Property Access only if this existing option is selected.
- Display Protest Hearing Dates
- This new option will determine whether the dates in the Protest section will be exported: Informal Date and Formal Date.
- Display Estimated Taxes
- This new setting will determine whether the Tax Due tab of the property details will be populated and shown.
- Allow Export of Search Results
- This new setting will determine whether Property Access will display the Export Results button with search results, allowing the user to export the results to a file.
- Display Values for:
- This new option will determine which properties should have their values displayed in Property Access.
- All properties – Display values for all exported properties.
- Only properties with NOAV – Display values for all properties that have any Appraisal Notice generated for that property year.
- In Property Access, these values are displayed in the Values tab in property details.
- When the “Properties that do not have these group codes” radio button is selected:
- Enable the selection button below this option.
- When the user clicks the selection button, show the common dialog for adding and removing codes, so the user can choose which property group codes to exclude.
- If this is enabled, validate that at least one code is selected.
- Display Deed History
- This new option will determine whether the Deed History section will be shown and populated.
- When this option is checked, enable “Maximum Number of Transactions” below it.
- PACS will export this many deed transactions per property at most, starting with the most recent and going back.
- Filter the number field so that it can only hold a positive integer.
- When the option is not checked, PACS will not export any deed transactions.
- Online Portal
- Move these existing menu items in PACS Appraisal, so that they will be gathered in one place under a new Tools > Website Configurations menu. These Online Portal website configuration dialogs need no other changes.
- Create a new dialog in PACS Appraisal that allows a user to configure new settings for Online Applications in the Online Portal. The user will reach this dialog by selecting Tools > Website Configurations > Online Applications in the PACS main menu.
- Prepopulate Legal Acreage
- This setting will determine whether legal acreage is prepopulated during the application process.
- Allow Mailing Address Changes
- This setting will determine whether mailing addresses can be changed during the application process.
- Allow Prior Year Applications
- This setting will determine whether applications can be made for prior years, or the current year only. If applications can be made for previous years, the user can also specify the default year.
- If this option is checked, enable “Default Application Year”
– Filter the number field so that it can only hold a valid year greater than 1900.
– If a default year hasn’t been chosen yet, use the PACS current
appraisal year for the initial default.
- Externally Hosted Instructional Videos
- The user may enter a URL link to externally hosted instructional videos. If specified, this link will be displayed in Online Applications.
Like this:
Like Loading...
