Verifying Calculated Tax Totals

After calculating for a Tax Unit, you should verify calculated tax bill totals for each Levy. There are a couple reports you can run that should be immensely helpful in finding the totals for comparison.

Care should be taken, when printing each report, to make sure the filters are completed similarly such that the exact same parcels and bills are included in the resulting reports.

Note: One might ask how, using the reports, can the data be verified? While Pontem staff are equipped to provide advice regarding the function of the software and the printing of these reports, they cannot know what the totals should be.

Pontem staff cannot assist with verification. It is recommended you verify the totals with the source of the levy, whether that be the assessor, county etc…

1. Print the District Statistics Report (DSR) once for each roll type that applies (Ad Valorem, IFT & DNR), and for each Tax Unit.
   1. From the Reports menu, select Parcels then Parcel Statistic Reports from here the best report to use it titled District Statistics Report w/ Renaissance Zone.
   2. Complete the Filter Options to define what data is included on the report.
      1. On the Print By tab
         1. Set the Value Year to match the tax period being verified.
         2. Ignore the parcel number, owner name, and property address range values.
         3. Set the Tax Unit you wish to verify (unless processing for a ‘V’ tax period. In which case you should select all tax units.)
            
         4. Choose All Districts.
         5. Select All Villages (unless verifying for a specific village during the ‘V’ tax period.)
         6. Leave the Select List of Parcels and Load Parcels from Ascii checkboxes unchecked.
      2. Complete the options on the Selection Tab.
         1. Select the desired roll type.
         2. For all other options on the Selection Tab, accept the system defaults.
      3. Ignore the Values Tab.
      4. Ignore the Activity Types Tab.
      5. Click OK.
         
         
         
2. Print the Original Tax Roll Balancing Report once for each roll type that applies (Ad Valorem, IFT & DNR), and for each Tax Unit.
   1. From the Reports menu, select Tax Bills then Tax Roll Totals from here the best report to use it titled Original Tax Roll Balancing Report.
   2. Complete the Filter Options to define what data is included on the report.
      1. On the Print By tab
         1. Set the Value Year to match the tax period being verified.
         2. Ignore the parcel number, owner name, and property address range values.
         3. Set the Tax Unit you wish to verify (unless processing for a ‘V’ tax period. In which case you should select all tax units.)
            
         4. Choose All Districts.
         5. Select All Villages (unless verifying for a specific village during the ‘V’ tax period.)
         6. Leave the Select List of Parcels and Load Parcels from Ascii checkboxes unchecked.
      2. Complete the options on the Selection Tab.
         1. Select the desired roll type.
         2. For all other options on the Selection Tab, accept the system defaults.
      3. Ignore the Tax Bill Options Tab.
      4. Ignore the Values Tab.
      5. Ignore the Activity Types Tab.
      6. Click OK.
         
         
         
3. Repeat steps one and two to print each of these reports for each Roll Type for each additional Tax Unit.

Helpful Guidelines for verification:

• Review the ‘Excess of Roll’ for each levy on the report. The simple rules here are that Excess of Roll will always be zero or negative and will not exceed $0.01 per parcel included in the levy.
• Match ‘Net Taxable’ totals from the Tax Roll Balancing Report to the District Statistics Report:
  • County Wide Levies (County Operating, Senior Services, Transit Authority, etc.) will be verified against the ‘Taxable Value’ column on the ‘Unit: xxx’ line of the DSR.
  • Township Levies (Township Operating, Road Improvement, etc.) will also be verified against the ‘Taxable Value’ column on the ‘Unit: xxx’ line of the DSR.
  • School Operating Levies will be verified against the ‘Non-Pre’ column on the ‘School: xxxxx’ line of the DSR.
  • School Operating Levies against Personal Commercial parcels will be verified against the ‘PRE’ column on the ‘Exemption: XMBTC’ line of the DSR.
  • School Debt Levies will be verified against the ‘Taxable Value’ column on the ‘School: xxxxx’ line of the DSR.
  • Qualified Forest Fees will be verified against the ‘Taxable Value’ column on the ‘Exemption: XFRST’ line of the DSR.
  • Special Assessments and Drain Assessments would be balanced against totals provided by the source of those assessments.
  • Verification of other levies on the Balancing Report could vary depending on the Restrictions setup in the Levy Restrictions (Fire levies against ‘Parcel Type: Real’, or Library Districts against two school districts added together).

 It is recommended you confirm totals with the originator of the Levy. Beyond these simple guidelines, Pontem Staff cannot assist in verifying totals.