New Year Calculations

Created by Heather Zeh, Modified on Mon, 06 Feb 2023 at 10:53 AM by Heather Zeh

Around October 1st every year, counties will be doing the Year End Balancing and New Year Calculations. These are 2 separate processes. Independent school districts do the Year End Balancing at the end of July and New Year Calculations are done around October 1st. For Year End Balancing, follow the guide here. These are the instructions for New Year Calculations.

Last updated: 09/26/2022

***If the Year End process has been completed, the new year will display with an entry for both I/S and G/O.

Please initial each step as it is completed.

*** If the exemption values have changed this year, change the values before starting New Year Calculations.

Click the Maintenance tab and choose Tax Units

Click the Exemption tab then highlight the tax Unit

Highlight the Type row and click the Edit button

Change the value and click the save button

1. Set Tax Unit Rates For the New Year. It is recommended to have multiple employees verify the new Rates are put in correctly. It is a good idea to have documentation from cities and schools indicating they have adopted the Rates. It is critical this step is done correctly.

_____ a. Open TaxClient. At the top menu, click Maintenance\TaxUnits.

Click the Rates tab, highlight the Tax Unit and column with the Year/Type, and click the Edit button.

Enter Tax Unit Rate and click the Save button.

Be sure to put in rates for VIT non-collectable accounts.

***If you don't see a current year M&O and I&S rate 0 that can be edited, stop and roll Tax Unit Data forward (instructions in Year End Processing guide).

_____ b. Confirm Tax Rates are complete and correct.

_____ c. If there is a Sales Tax Savings Rate (33.01) click the Year tab, highlight the Year and click Edit.

____d. Enter the 33.01 Rate from the TNT form(Line 54). Make certain that the Collection Type is Tax Collecting Entity.

Leave the Round Amount set to 0.

____2. Calculate Taxes

_____a. Open TaxAdmin in Parallels and click the Year End Processing button.

Click the Cert Tax Load Preparation button.

Step 1 was completed before Year End Processing. If you have not done Year End Processing, click Roll Tax Unit Data To 2022 button.

____b. Confirm completion of steps 2, 3 and 4 by clicking on each button and entering the initials of the person verifying the information. The Grand Total Taxable is the taxable value for the county found in the Tax Roll Summary Report(Reports Tab>Listing Reports). Enter the same number for step 4 Grand Total taxable.

Skip step 5/Shut down Website.

Please do not advance to this step until all new current year values and all tax rates have been loaded.

____3. Calculate Next Years Taxes.

____a. Click Calculate Next Years Taxes and Set Starting Balances.

Click the Calculate Tax for All Units button.

____b. Run the Tax Roll Summary (Reports Tab>Listing). Take the Taxable Value, multiply it by the Tax Rate, then divide by 100 (If freeze figures are available, subtract the total lost levy). That number should equal the Total Levy. If it does, move on. These should match the calculated figure of the Total Levy in Tax Roll Summary. There may be a tiny rounding difference. Contact Spindlemedia if this is not a reasonable figure.

IF THESE FIGURES DO NOT MATCH,

STOP HERE AND CALL SPINDLEMEDIA.

_____c. Once the balances have been created, run the Tax Roll Summary(Reports Tab>Listing) and check it against Certified numbers from the Appraisal District. Then run the Year To Date Summary(Reports Tab>Balancing Reports) and match it back to the Tax Roll Summary(Reports Tab>Listing). In addition to this check, please contact Spindlemedia immediately if the Calculated Balance does not equal the Actual Balance. Spindlemedia will require these reports.

Do not continue until this issue is resolved.

_____d. Run a Penalties Detail Report(Reports Tab>Listing Reports) for the new tax year. If this report has no entries, or the

data is not what is expected, stop and call Support immediately. Calculation of Penalties

has been added to this function, and no longer exists as a separate step. Spindlemedia will require this report.

____ Click and initial to verify steps 7 and 8 in Tax Load Preparation Steps are completed.

_____4. Loading or Rolling Over Fiduciaries.

You can load NEW fiduciary XREF requests at any time of the year. If TOMortgage Mortgage Request Files are used, the Fiduciary records are updated in that process. If you want to roll them over, consider using Fiduciary Rollover. This will add the Fiduciary record from the current year to the new year. This button is not in the New Year Calculations. Only the Fiduciaries with the Move Fwd box checked will roll forward.

To check the Fiduciary Move Fwd box in TaxClient, click the Fiduciaries tab and pick an option from the drop down list.

Then click the Edit button

Check the Move Fwd box and click the Save button.

_____a. Click Fiduciary Rollover. This will move all pertinent data regarding frozen accounts

and accounts with fiduciary cross reference records forward (for fids, the “move forward” check box in the fiduciary section must be checked) to the New Year. Once you have rolled them forward they can be edited for current year changes.

***Note: In rolling Fiduciary accounts, please understand that it takes the data from last year and rolls it to the current year. If there are any accounts that have a new Fiduciary, they must be manually edited.

____5. Reapply Escrow

Escrow payments and MH Escrow Payments created on the current year can be moved to

the new year with this application. A note about Correspondence Records: If this process is run prior to the October Billing, many accounts will be paid in full and will not receive an October Statement, saving the print cost and postage. As a result, no Correspondence record will be on the account for the billing. If the transfer results in a partial payment, the Correspondence record will only reflect the remaining amount due. If local policy set by Auditors requires the October Statement to reflect full amount due prior to any payments, this process may be run after the October Billing is created and Correspondence records set. As always, the Account/Payment History will document this transfer. Open TaxAdmin in Parallels. Click the Reapply Escrow button.

If this process is not done at this time, please initial the option to that effect.

This process is fully detailed in the document “Escrow Transfer Program”. Please read this document before attempting a transfer.

1. Reapply Escrow to be performed as part of the New Year Process:

_____a. Run a Receivables By Date Range by Year(Reports Tab>Payments) for 1/1/1900 through the current date for

Escrow and MH Escrow(2 different reports). This is the only opportunity to get this data in its current form!

Check this report.

_____b. Open a Reapply Batch and note the number. If you are transferring MH Escrow and Escrow you will need to open a Reapply batch for each transfer.

_____c. Click the Reapply Escrow button.

Enter the Current Tax Year, (the new year where the escrow money will be posted to the current year levy). Enter the Escrow Year (the year the receivables were created.) Enter the Reapply Batch number. Enter the Receipt date. Please check this carefully, this date will be used as the receipt date of all payments posted to Levy in the current year. Finally select either Escrow or MH Escrow to move. Click the ReApply button.

Repeat this process twice including opening another ReApply batch if there is MH Escrow to ReApply in addition to Escrow. Indicate the MH Escrow.

_____d. Rerun the Receivables by Date Range by Year(Reports Tab>Payments) for 1/1/1900 through current date. All the positive escrows will have negative amounts with a few exceptions. Run this report for each Escrow ReApply. The system will automatically close the ReApply batches once they are reapplied.

Or 2. Reapply Escrow to be performed after the October Billing:

_____a. Reapply Escrow will not be performed at this time.

_____6. Refresh Owner Deferral Flag.

Some appraisal districts send deferral information. If a Start Deferral date (with no End Deferral date) is added, this process will ensure that the D flags are appropriately place on the account.

Note: The procedure tests for an open deferral, then places a D on the account if the condition is found. This process may be run as often as deemed necessary, after supplements or manual changes as well as the certified load. This process is fully described in the document “Refresh Owner Deferral”.

Click the Refresh Owner Deferral Flag button.

Click the Refresh Owner Deferral button.

“Processing…..” appears. Upon completion, “Processing…” becomes “Finished” and a Tax Admin popup states that the

process is complete.

Click the OK on the popup. Click the Close button on the Owner Deferral Refresh screen and return to the New Year Calculation screen.

_____7. Update All 313 Accounts for the New Current Year(Values do not come in Certified Load)

_____a. Confirm and document all 313 Economic Development Accounts with the Appraisal

District (Tax Units, Values, Exemptions, Levy, etc.).

_____b. Add the information to the current year. Call Spindlemedia for assistance if needed.

_____ c. If this task is not done at this time, initial one of the following:

_____i. No 313 accounts exist.

_____ii. 313 accounts exist but will not be updated at this time.

_____8. Rolling Stock Value Adjustments (if an account needs to be added, follow this guide )

_____a. Update Rolling Stock Value Adjustments.

_____b. If this task is not done at this time, initial one of the following:

_____i. No Rolling Stock accounts exist.

_____ii. Rolling Stock accounts exist but will not be updated at this time.

_____9. Timber 78 Values Adjustments

_____a. Update Timber 78 Values Adjustments.

_____b. If this task is not done at this time, initial one of the following:

_____i. No Timber 78 accounts exist.

_____ii. Timber 78 accounts exist but will not be updated at this time.

10. Ignore #9 Instructions to MOVE FROZENS(only HCAD and Randall need to do this and Spindlemedia will help with this).

11. For those who have real time credit card payments on the web, reset the WebPay year configuration. If this setting is not updated, the current year does not appear on accounts to be paid.

Click Control Table in Tax Admin.