8.1.36 Release Notes

New Features

Released to Clients on 07/25/2018

This release includes the following additions and modifications to functionality:

1.1 HB 626 – Late Application deadline PACS Freeze Process

Relating to late applications for certain exemptions from ad valorem taxation

• House Bill 626 amends the Tax Code to extend the date by which a late application for a residence homestead property tax exemption is required to be accepted by a chief appraiser from one year after the delinquency date for the taxes on the homestead to two years after that date and to extend the date by which a late application for a disabled veterans property tax exemption is required to be accepted by a chief appraiser from one year after the delinquency date for the taxes on the eligible property to five years after that date.
  • 2 year delinquency:
    • 11.13 = HS, OV65/OV65S, DP/DPS (residence homestead exemption)
    • 11.131 = DVHS
    • 11.132 = DVCH
    • 11.133 = MASS
  • 5 year delinquency:
    • 11.22 = DV1-4
  • PACS users concern: the freeze may be affected by allowing a longer period of time to pass before applying for the exemption. PACS currently runs the freeze process for current year -1. With this law passing, PACS would need to allow for multiple years.
  • Freeze ceiling for prior years – previously processed only the most recent certified year

• The Freeze/Refreeze dialog has been modified – the ‘Year’ selection now populates with any certified year, in Appraisal and Collections

• The freeze/refreeze process needs to be run in order, from earliest year first, and for each year in order to calculate as expected. A supplement is expected for each year in which the freeze/refreeze process is executed.
• Processing for each year has changed – previously the freeze ceiling would be copied forward to uncertified year, but now the next year could be certified. So for any year, the freeze process will check the current freeze ceiling before any calculations to see if it differs from the previous year and then process will know to recalculate the freeze ceiling for the year processing. This is how the freeze ceiling will be carried forward through the certified years.
  • In the example below, the freeze/refreeze is executed for 2015 and the freeze ceiling is calculated, increasing from 47.38 to 107.23.
  • Running the freeze/refreeze process for 2016, PACS identifies the starting freeze in 2016 is different from 2015 and so must recalculate the freeze for 2016, increasing from 47.38 to 107.23.
  • The freeze/refreeze process would need to be executed for 2017 and 2018 to carry the freeze forward to the most current year.

1.2 SB 731 ARB ODP Letter Updates

The Comptroller has updated the forms included in HGov Order Determining Protest.

• Our forms combine the following, with a version for Granted, Denied, or Dismissed
  • 775 – Notice of Appeal
  • 221 – Order Determining Protest
  • 222 – Notice of Final Order
• Modify form TA-775 (50-775) in PACS, as follows:
  • [A] Update version to 12-16/3
  • [B] add tax code reference to footnote ‘Tax Code Section 42.06’
• Modify form TA-221 (50-221):
  • [D] Update version to 11-16/14
  • [E] Modify text:
    • From: Having heard the evidence and arguments from both sides, the Appraisal Review Board with a quorum present determined that:
    • To: Based on the evidence, the ARB makes the following determination(s):
• Modify form TA-222 (50-222):
  • [G] Update version to 08-17/15
  • [H] Update dollar amount
    • From: $1 million or less
    • To: $5 million or less
  • [I] Update line (2):
    • To: an applicable arbitration deposit made payable to the Comptroller in the amount provided under Tax Code Chapter 41A.
  • [J] Change ‘Comptroller rules’ to ‘Comptroller Rule 9.804’
  • [K] Change paragraph to:
    • To appeal an appraisal review board order to SOAH, a property owner must file with the chief appraiser of the appraisal district not later than the 30th day after the date the property owner receives notice of the order:

1.3 HB 150 Deferral Interest Rate Default

• Relating to the exemption from ad valorem taxation of, and the deferral or abatement of ad valorem taxes on, certain residence homesteads.
  • A bill adjustment code exists for Deferrals (8%)
  • A new bill adjustment code is created by each client for Deferrals (5%).
  • Currently, PACS calculation of deferrals has not changed to account for an existing deferral at 8% which will be paid with the new 5% as of 1/1/18. This resolution is expected in a subsequent release.

Note:    This has been changed in the 8.1.36.0033 Service Pack 3 Release

1.4 SB 15 New Exemption FRSS

Relating to an exemption from ad valorem taxation of the residence homestead of the surviving spouse of a first responder who is killed or fatally injured in the line of duty.

• Add new exemption for the residence homestead of a surviving spouse of a first responder killed or fatally wounded:

• Exempt description – First Responder Surviving Spouse
• Exemption amount will need to:
  • Be entered as a dollar amount or a percentage
  • Default to 100% when applied the first time on a property
• The exemption should function in similar fashion to the existing MASSS exemption
• Exemption will be applied to property HS portion in the same manner as existing MASSS exemption
• In the existing exemption order, this new exemption should be calculated following the MASSS exemption.
• The new exemption should allow proration as existing exemptions in PACS.
• The exemption will be listed for selection in the Real and Mobile Home Property Exemption Wizards found through:
  • Activities > Enter Exemptions

• Property view > Entity – Exmpt > Exemptions > Add > Property Exemption Wizard > Exemption

• Allow for the transfer of the FRSS from one Real or Mobile Home property to another
  • The amount transferred to a new property will be equal to the dollar amount of the original exemption, the user will be responsible for entering the correct amount
    • Multiple transfer may be possible, so the original exemption dollar amount is important to track
    • Example:

Taxpayer spouse transfers exemption 100,320 to new residence valued at 95,000. Moves again to residence valued at 150,000. The User will need to validate the exemption amount of 100,320 on the second move.

• The dollar amount of the exemption is the amount given in the last year the survivor received the exemption, the user will be responsible for entering the correct amount

• A transfer certificate (similar to the MASSS Transfer Certificate) will be needed. This should contain the exemption amount.

• The user will be responsible for entering a transferred exemption. The transferred amount should be entered as listed from the transferred exemption amount in order for possible subsequent transfers to be calculated correctly.
• Example:

CAD 1 generates transfer certificate in the amount of $100,320, CAD2 will add transferred exemption on property of $95,000 with exemption amount $100,320.

• The user should enter the exemption as a dollar amount equal on each entity associated with the property.
  • In the case an equal dollar amount is not entered on each entity, PACS should recognize the dollar amount entered most often and then the highest amount entered for generating the transfer certificate.
  • If the user enters a percentage for any entity, PACS should ignore the percentages in favor of the dollar amount entered most often and then the highest amount entered for generating the transfer certificate.

• The following reports and forms will need to be reviewed to ensure they account for the new exemption:
  • Activities > Certify Appraisal Roll > Print Certified Totals…
  • Activities > Certify Appraisal Roll > Print Certified Roll…
  • Activities > Certify Appraisal Roll > PTD > Generate Certified PTD Submission…

PTD reports will not be modified until the changes for 2018 EARS layout have been completed

• Activities > Certify Appraisal Roll > PTD > PTD Preprocessing…
• Reports > Preliminary > Preliminary Roll…
• Reports > Preliminary > Preliminary Totals…
• Reports > Supplement > Print Adjusted Certified Totals…

• Update ‘Reset Exemptions’ process to remove FRSS if selected:

Include the new exemption in the Appraisal Export/Import file

• File> Export > Appraisal Information. Update the export to include the FRSS exemption
  • Property (Appraisal_Info.txt): Add fields for the following
    • Exemption (‘T’ or ‘F’)
    • Qualify Year for Exemption
    • Proration Dates
  • Property-Entity Association (Appraisal_Entity_Info.txt): Add fields for the following
    • Exemption Amount Granted by Entity
    • Allocation Factor for Exemption
  • Entity Totals (Appraisal_Entity_Totals.txt): Add fields for the following
    • Total Number of Exemptions
    • Total Exemption Value
  • File > Import > Appraisal Data. Update the import to include the FRSS exemption and amount
    • PACS will not generate the application form at this time.

1.5 Comptroller Forms

• HS Application
  • The HS application is updated so the Online Applications needs to be modified to account for changes and the new exemption.
• Notice of Protest
  • Update the Notice of Protest form for Comptroller Changes version 50-132 01-18/17.

New Features

This release includes the following additions and modifications to functionality:

Comptroller form Updates

• Updates to comply with the Comptroller form 135 have been made to the Disabled Veteran’s application form in PACS
• Real Property Rendition form 141 has been updated to comply
• Updates to comply with the Comptroller form have been made to the following transfer certificates in PACS:
  • MASSS
  • DVHSS
  • DVCHS
  • FRSS

HB150 – Amends Section 33.06(d) for Deferral Interest

• ASSUMPTION: clients are using 8% for deferrals currently and will use 5% after 1/1/18

A deferral is identified in PACS with a bill adjustment code. An attribute exists to identify the code as a deferral and the interest field on the code dialog will default to 5% now in PACS. However, the interest field is editable and may be different than 8% or 5%. If the bill adjustment codes are set as deferral but with different interest amounts, PACS will NOT attempt to adjust the interest assessed where those bill adjustment codes are in use.

• Tax Code change lowers the deferral interest rate from 8% to 5% for all deferrals still active.
• For deferrals filed after 1/1/2018 the interest is 5%. The clients can create and assign a new bill adjustment code indicated as deferral.
• For deferrals filed prior to 1/1/2018, all interest accrued prior to 1/1/18 remains at the 8% but after 1/1/18 begins to accrue at 5% interest.
  • This includes prior year bills currently assessed at 8% annual interest which need to be assessed at 5% interest after this change.
  • Clients will most likely identify the deferrals like this, with a prior year deferral code and the new 5% deferral code:

• This does not currently calculate the expected interest because the prior year bills continue to assess 8%. The change will need to calculate the lower 5% annual interest on all bills deferred starting January 1, 2018.
• The interest assessment date does NOT change but PACS will need to be aware that the 1/1/18 date starts the new annual interest assessment for deferrals.

HB1346 – Amends Section 23.1242 for SIT Heavy Equipment Filing Deadline

• Changed the filing deadline for Heavy Equipment inventory from the 10th of the month to the 20th of each month. EXAMPLE: January sales filing is due Feb 20th
  • Add indicator for heavy equipment –
    • At the property level, to apply to the property as a whole

• To display, non-editable, on Sales entry

• Penalty assessment calculation works the same, just 10 days later for heavy equipment

NOTE: the above depictions are for illustrative purposes only. This legislative change is effective September 1, 2017.

• The user is responsible for selecting the indicator and entering the sales information correctly.
  • Other inventory filing deadline remains the 10th of each month following sales
  • The existing additional penalty following 10 days after the due date remains in effect for heavy equipment and other inventory sales

P&A Mineral Import Layout

• The vendor file layout was updated for the legislative rendition deadline change.
• PACS is updated to accept the new file layout.

  NOTE: Please contact Harris Govern Support prior to importing the first 2018 mineral file from P&A.

PTAD EARS File Layout Change

• The file layout for 2018 has been updated to conform to the 2018 PTAD EARS Manual
  • Expanded local option HS percentage amount
  • Added FRSS exemption
  • Separated DVHS and DVHSS for reporting
  • Added fields for disaster reporting –fields NOT added to PACS to track at this time
  • Removed all previously unused fields

PTAD Report of Property Value Report Changes

• Reports of Property Value for the following have been updated to comply:
  • City RPV Short form 255
  • County RPV Short form 250
  • School RPV form 108
  • School District Limitation form 253

TeamSupport
Ticket ID	Description of Update

178731	DVHSS Prorate dates can be entered on certified record without supplementing account. This has been fixed.
179030	Profiles are not displaying the “unchecked (asterisk)”sales correctly. Corrected.
179334	Property Access site running slowly. Fixed; added two indexes to property access database to address performance issues.
179952	Printing or Previewing NBHD profile disabled in the patch for Critical Ticket 179030
178836	UPTVF is now configurable to allow or not allow rounding.

TeamSupport
Ticket ID	Description of Update

179531	Online Appeals Portal showing 2018 Appraised Values. The user should determine whether the values are to be displayed, independent of whether notices have been generated. This issue resolved.
180624	Published Appraisal Notices are not available on the Test Website. Resolved.

 

TeamSupport
Ticket ID	Description of Update

181148

Online Appeals – Settlement Offer Value Warning – Cannot configure. The radio buttons do not un-select and the Percent cannot be updated. Issue resolved; now able to configure Settlement Offer Range Warning. Both radio buttons – Difference in Value and Percentage Difference are able to be selected, deselected and also enter values. Also, values are getting saved and cancel values entered.

 

TeamSupport	Description of Update
Ticket ID

180531	Owner/Agent Import Header Error. Supported version number was not updated when Appraisal Export layout changed. This has been corrected.
180604	Property Access Website Configuration-Blocks All Years using Group code
180437	Error Message when closing Online Applications in PACS. This has been resolved, Error message is not seen, when trying to close the online applications.
180964	Owner Getting emails when an account has been settled by the Agent. Issue corrected.
180019	Letter pulling wrong owner; pulling owner from a previous year (2008). Corrected.
181571	Property Access Show Values not working as expected (as it used to). Resolved; patch was applied so that the settings would only apply the current appraisal year.
181643	PID 183979 not showing on website. Issue resolved when user un-checks the “Show Collection Owners” on PACS Property Website Configuration. When it is checked, the stored procedure ExportPropertyAccess,sql does not add properties that have no collection owner to table [_clientdb_property]. Since Property 183979 has no collection owner (property.col_owner_id is NULL), it is not added to table [_clientdb_property] to be exported to Property Access website.
180935	2018 Appraisal Notice Process; Prior Year Values do not show on the property access if they do not meet the criteria set under Tools>Website Configuration>Property Access. This has been resolved.
181172	2018 Values not on Website; corrected, values are now showing
182517	Income Module; entered data is not being displayed in the Direct Cap. When re-entered, it appears to be data destructive because the screen alters. Corrected; each Method (Direct Cap, Actual, Settled) should have it’s own fields (EGI/EXP/NOI) in stored procedure IncomeRecalc.sql.
182620	Unable to Create ARB Events in Mass. Corrected; stored procedures changed so that stored procedures return integers instead of numerics for Event ID
182673	Submission Value VS Current Value-Homestead Cap Loss has changed from ARB Submission Values to current 2018 Values and no value was changed. Corrected; RecalcSelectHomesteadGroup.sql to handle RecalcuProperty running from SQL Agent Job, when Pacs User ID and prop ID are both 0 passing to the following statement. exec RecalcuProperty 0, 2018, 0
182430	Values are incorrect on HS Groups; : Homestead Cap Loss has changed from ARB Submission Values to current 2018 Values, no value was changed. Corrected; (same as TS 182673)-RecalcSelectHomesteadGroup.sql to handle RecalcuProperty running from SQL Agent Job, when Pacs User ID and prop ID are both 0 passing to the following statement. exec RecalcuProperty 0, 2018, 0
182774	-formatting issues on theHistory has wrong values- Issue-the owner(owner id = 111610) of property (pid 117542) has a ‘udi_child_prop_id’ (prop id = 12405) in table owner – which should not be there. The store procedure GetRollHistory.sql get values from [property_val] of the udi_child_prop_id, not prop 117542 Corrected; cleared table [owner] of owner 111610, set udi_child_prop_id to NULL after year 2014 for property 117542.
183035	Calculation of Taxable Value Fails- Cannot run preliminary totals through PACS user interface. Conversion issue. Preliminary totals process is running into a bulk insertion failure on account of unanticipated additional column cnv_owner_id in a few tables. Dropped this column on necessary tables. Issue corrected.
183605	Online Appeals-Admin website not working. Issue corrected; some of the stored procedures on the client’s Online Appeals database needed to be updated.
183972	Account error-closes PACS- Issue resolved; the error was caused by the property image (property 16071) associated with year 2017/2018 was corrupted; image was reloaded and there was no error when opening property 16071 in year 2017/2018.
184106	PTD Bulk Insert Issue- receive an error. This issue has been resolved.
184114	Trailing Spaces in PTD Export- Corrected; PTDExports.vbs modified so the fields left justified and padding with spaces instead of right justified.

 

TeamSupport
Ticket ID	Description of Update

181186	Agent was able to Efile in Portal when a eFiled protest filed by another agent was already closed Informally. Agent should not be able to Efile a protest when another protest existed on the same property that was already closed.
182025	Denton GIS Comp Grids Extremely Slow. Resolved.
182282	Mass Reschedule on ARB Module 182282. Webb has discovered that PACS shuts down when user starts their protest and when trying to “mass” reschedule protests by highlighting and selecting a new hearing date to set them at.
182470	GIS Comp Grid Maps are extremely slow at Gregg CAD. Appears to have started with the latest update.
181949	Homestead Portal – when using the Online Exemption Portal, The Homestead Application showed the first address that the taxpayer owned and not the mailing address that he currently used. Fixed issue with recognition of address changes in Online Appeals owner staging.
183830	Print Rendition Penalty Letters Error – when printing the “Rendition Penalty Letters” using the “Query” option, PACS displays a “Query Timeout expired” message and the user does not receive the printed letters and they have to start over. Corrected.
183749	Future Year – unable to copy property with Freeze ceilings to Future Year; user receives an error. Corrected.
183888	ARB Protest Phone Hearing Request Box- When the phone conference requested check box is checked/unchecked it is not logged in the change log. There was nothing in the requirements that the “phone_conference_requested” field should be tracked in the change log, which probably explains why it wasn’t set up for that. Corrected; fields have been set up for tracking in the change log: Phone Conference Requested Phone Conference Number Phone Conference Held
184091	Create Default Grid not always finding Comps-When client clicks Create Default Grid, PACS sometimes does not find any sales but in reality there are sales PACS should have selected. Appears that PACS does not add properties to the defaut grid when Generate Default Grid is clicked if the searched # of properties < Sales Comp Configured ARB GRID # of properties; a design intention.
184224	Online Appeals Process not working- Taxpayer has not received an email confirming registration.The smtp settings were not configured correctly on the portal. This was resolved at the client.
184229	Supplement Mineral Import from P&A error message- When user is in the process of importing a Supplement from P&A, an error message is received. The issue is that the data being put in the PropertyRenditionFiledDate field in the XML file is not a date. If they supply that field, then the value must be a valid date. If the date isn’t available, then **Missing Data** should not be placed as the value, since it is not a date.