PROPERTY TAX TIPS AND TRICKS Presented By: Vicki Chiasson & Wes Pogorzelski PROVEN GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP
Enhanced Levy Calculation Tax levies take a long time to generate Corrections may require regeneration, which means 2x or more time Too much time spent waiting on calculation Transactions >> Tax Roll >> Levy Calculation >> Options >> Use Enhanced Processing Levies generate 10x to 50x quicker in AB and ON Coming soon to other areas
Enhanced Tax Sorting Limited sort options when printing tax notices (only 3 options) Zero levy bills and credit notes were printing with tax notices Transactions >> Tax Roll >> Levy Calculation Sort Options have been increased from 3-5 Addition of sort criteria types, including mortgage holder, PAP plan, customer/address ID, owners receiving multiple bills, and group codes. Ability to add customized sorting groups via a group code attached to the tax roll Ability to exclude zero levy bills and credit bills from tax notice printing
Minimum Levy Some province laws allow for a minimum levy amount Set-up>> Tax Roll >> Set-up or Set-up >>Tax Roll >> Minimum Levy Override the tax levy calculation by creating an alternate minimum tax code System will top up amount to either one tax rate table ode or to all tax rate table codes in the group based on the ration of the actual levy
Excel Mortgage Export & Import Manual compilation of tax information for the mortgage companies Transactions>> Tax Roll >> Levy Calculation >>Additional Transactions>>Tax Roll >> Mortgage Holder Excel Export Automation of Mortgage Holder Payment Information to/from Excel
Transfer Tax Roll Credits To A/P Manually transferring credit balances to the Accounts Payable module by adjusting the Roll and notifying the Accounts Payable clerk to produce a cheque Set-up>>Cash Receipt >> Set-up Transactions >>Tax Roll >> Credit Transfer Automatically creates the adjustment on the tax roll Transfers to the Payables module creating a Temporary Vendor ID and the transaction to then be processed
Mass Adjustment for Taxes Adjustments for multiple rolls are being entered individually (i.e. writeoffs) Transactions >>Cash Receipt>> Adjustments >> Options Allows mass adjustment of multiple tax rolls, based on total balance or an adjustment amount
Enhanced PAP Calculation Current monthly PAP recalculation provides no feedback to user Options for recalculation are limited Often requires sending out a new letter and postage to owner with new PAP amount. Microsoft Dynamics GP >> Tools >> Routines >> Tax Roll >> PreAuthorized Payments Calculation This is a new window. Old window still accessible from Options >> Original PAP Calculation. You can: - Save your settings - Include the amount right on your tax bill before printing (save on postage!) - Review values before posting - Many more
SK Tax Partial Payments Currently partial payments are not handled well in Saskatchewan tax Potential for taxation authority balances to be distributed disproportionally Numerous fixes to ensure that it meets SK requirements
Automatic Penalty Adjustment on Payment Mailed cheques and bank payments can arrive days past the due date. So now we need to wait days after the actual penalty date to run penalty. Or void penalties by hand. Tools >> Setup >> Cash Receipting >> Setup. Enable Allow Tax Back-Date of days. Now run your penalty on the due date. Then any back dated payments prior to penalty within days specified in setup will automatically void the penalty and recalculate it based on the new balance.
Post Dated Cheques Post dated cheques are being entered in future dated cash receipt batches. However, if there are two instalments they apply to the wrong instalment The latest versions of Diamond will warn if the wrong instalment is being paid first when cash receipt batches are posted
Arrears Letters Would like to change the look or wording of our arrears letters, but not sure how or would like to work from another example. Graphical arrears letters now ship with the product. They even have Word Template equivalents. You can temporarily remove security from your existing arrears letters to review these stock reports.
Arrears Letters PAP rolls will print on arrears letters and shouldn t Microsoft Dynamics GP >> Tools >> Setup >> Cash Receipting >> PAP Plan Maintenance Enable Omit Tax Rolls on PAP from printing arrears letters
Tax Sale Improvements 1 of 2 How to ensure we are not inadvertently taking payments for properties in tax sale process these properties require special consideration for payments! Tools >> Setup >> Tax Roll >> Status Codes Create a tax sale status code and enable the Disallow Payment checkbox. Attach that status code to applicable tax sale properties. Now no payment from any point of entry will be allowed.
Tax Sale Improvements 2 of 2 Would like a better audit trail and tracking of properties as they move through the various stages of the tax sale process. Transactions >> Tax Roll >> Notifications There is a new notification type called Other You can also create various status codes that represent Tax Sale stages. You can use this window and the Other notification type to create a history record of the change, charge the property, and assign different status codes.
Tax Deferrals We are allowed to defer taxes under special circumstances for some properties. How do we keep that liability/receivable with the property but not include it in penalty and arrears processing? Tools >> Setup >> Tax Roll >> Grid Code Create a Deferral Grid Code with The highest grid apply sequence number of all other tax grid codes The Roll Balance Forward at Year End Enabled (New) Move deferred amounts to that new grid using cash receipt adjustments Do not select that grid when processing penalty and arrears letters
Charge for Arrears Letters through Penalty We would like to charge for Arrears Letters without manually creating an adjustment for each individual roll. Tools >> Setup >> Tax Roll >> Grid Code Transaction >> Tax Roll >> Penalties Create an adjustment code with the corresponding fee Process is similar to the Penalties process select the appropriate adjustment code
Mass Transfer from Utilities At the end of the year the tax clerk or utility clerk is finding themselves doing individual manual adjustments to each individual account to the associated tax roll. Transactions >> Cash Receipt >> Adjustments >> Additional >> Mass Transfer Functionality exists to do a mass transfer of outstanding amounts on all utility accounts or a range to the associated tax roll in ONE process.
Tax Roll Year End As year end is only done once a year I feel like I may be missing something while completing this process. Routines >> Tax Roll >> Year End Tax deferrals (as mentioned earlier) Will explain a few more tips
Purge Functionality We have concerns about our server and database performance, we have never purged any data since our go-live. Utilities >> Tax Roll >> Tax Roll Purge There exists the functionality to purge data based on a cut-off year with the ability to select different criteria including class, and status
Tax Statement Wish there was a new, updated, easy to read Tax Statement with print options Inquiry >> Property Tax Console >> Go To >> Tax Statement New SSRS Tax Statement options to print for a specific transaction period, assessment year.
Multiple Linc Numbers Need to add more than one Linc Number to a Roll Cards >> Tax Roll >> Roll Maintenance Option exists to add multiple linc numbers to a roll
Tax How To Documents The manual is great but are there any one-page how to documents that Diamond provides? https://portal.diamondmunicipal.com Not only would you find new release information, announcements, manuals but also many how-to documents for anything from penalty runs to the mortgage import/export to adjustments and many more.
Advanced Customer Search Would like an advance way to search my customer base. Inquiry>> Tax Roll >> Advanced Customer Search This window allows the user to search by various fields including phone number, phonetic name and can limit by sub-ledger. It provides a cleaner way to view and access the data.
Document Attach Need for a more efficient and effective way to handle documents at the record level. Cards >> Tax Roll >> Tax Roll Maintenance (document attach icon) GP2013 brings this great new feature Less restrictions than OLE Notes Combatable with Web client Supports the scan process
Mapping Can we easily display civic addresses and owner mailing addresses on a map Tools >> Setup >> Diamond >> Mapping Setup Set the following: Mailing Address Mapping: Use Bing Maps on the Web Municipal Address Mapping: Use Bing Maps on the Web Restart GP. A map button will be available beside various address fields throughout the system.
CAMAlot Integration 1 of 2 (Alberta) How to get property, owner, and sales information from Diamond into CAMAlot Tools >> Routines >> Tax Roll >> Tax Roll File Export Set Jurisdiction to CAMAlot This creates files that CAMAlot can then import
CAMAlot Integration 2 of 2 (Alberta) How to get assessment data from CAMAlot into Diamond Transactions >> Tax Roll >> Assessment Changes >> Import >> Assessment Import. Import Type: Setup Table Be sure that when exporting assessments from CAMAlot do not export in XML format
Tax Surcharge Is it possible to easily charge customers or rolls for title changes and tax statements. Tools >> Setup >> Tax Roll >> Setup >> Surcharge (Button) Configure the Surcharge setup When processing title changes and tax statements new fields will be available to charge either the roll or the customer. This is currently an additional module
Future Date Address Changes Staff receive requests for address changes that will occur in the future. There is no way in the system to enter that. Cards >> Tax Roll >> Customer Maintenance >> Future Address Change You can enter multiple future dated address changes with effective dates. The first time someone logs into GP on that effective date the address change will occur automatically Two new smartlists: Customer Future Dated Address Changes, Customer Historical Address Changes This is not specific to property taxes
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