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This generates thirteen reports providing various data on accounts with frozen levies. They can run against the data in either the CAD or production tables.  They list accounts and conditions that may need researching to make sure the frozen levies are correct.  Some of the reports may produce data only for tax offices in Harris County. A .csv file for each report is created and sent the to FTP server; the data is also stored in the database by request seq. no., so it may be retrieved later.

A global code needs to be set by ACT as follows: Type Code - APPSRVR , Code - APPSRVR_DB_TNS_ALIAS, Description and Client Preference - the database name (for ex., ACTPROD).

These client preferences were considered when calculating frozen levies:

HOMESTEAD_CAP:  If set to Y, homestead exemption calculations are based on and subtracted from the capped amount (assuming that CAP_AMOUNT is set to PARTIAL).   If HOMESTEAD_CAP is set to N, homesite exemption calculations are based on and subtracted from the gross homesite value of the account. Note that increases in value during a year will increase the appraisal cap value by the amount of the increase (the cap exclusion amount does not change, in other words).

NI_LOCAL_PCT: This determines whether the local option percentage of exemptions is used when calculating any potential increase in frozen levy.  If this is set to Y, the percentage is used; if set to N, it is not.  For ex., if the new improvement value is $100.00, and the local option percentage is.2, the taxable portion of the new improvement would be $80.00 (.2 x 100 = 20, then 100 - 20 = 80). However, if the taxable value of the account is less than the new improvement value, the taxable value is used instead of the new improvement value to calculate the increase in levy. In this example, the taxable value might be $9,000.00, in which case the taxable portion is 8200 (.2 x 9000 = 1800.00; 9000 - 1800 = 7200).

CEILING_WITH_HOMESTEAD: Enter Y to allow frozen levies only if the account has a homestead exemption. Enter N to allow freezes if the account has either an O65 or DRH.

COMPARE_CEILING: Calculate freeze levy by comparing 1st and 2nd years. Set to Y to allow the system to compare the levy between the first and second years an account is eligible for a freeze, and set the freeze to the lowest of the levies. Set to N to always have the freeze year and levy set to the what is on the account the first year of the O65 or DRH.

CEILING_FRWRD_ON_EXCODE_CHANGES: Set this preference to Y to continue the freeze on accounts where a freeze exists in the current year and the exemptions have changed for the new year. The owner is the same for both years.  Set to N to create a new freeze if the exemptions have changed for the new year, even if the change is just from O65 to S65, for ex.

CEILING_FRWRD_ON_NAME_CHANGES: Set to Y to continue the freeze on accounts where a freeze exists in the current year and a name change  has occurred for the new year.  This name change may be as simple as adding a middle initial.  Set to N to create a new freeze if the exemptions have NOT changed for the new year. If this is set to N and the exemptions have been removed for the new year, the freeze is also removed.

USE_OWNER_DATE: Enter Y to use the owner effective date as the primary criteria for determining whether a name change has occurred when comparing the production to the CAD tables.  Enter N to allow the program to compare the certified owner name as the primary criteria.

CAD_FREEZE_EXCODES: List the exemption codes for exemptions eligible for frozen levies. For Harris County, the default is DRH, O65, S65, S55, PRO, and PRH, for other tax offices it is DRH,O65, S65, S55, P55, P65, SRH, and PRH.

User Entitlements

The following user entitlements must be set for each user who needs access to the Batch Menu and Batch Request screens. They are part of the Run Batch Processes task.  See Tasks, Entitlements, and Jobs for more information. The user entitlement for each batch menu no. mentioned below must be set to Y for each authorized user. Batch menu nos. default to N when they are added.

BATCH_MENU - access to the Batch Menu to generate the reports.

BATCH_REQUEST - access to the Batch Request screen to see the reports.

To run this process:

1. From the Main Menu, click on Products, then Batch Products.  The ACT Batch Menu will appear.
2. Click on the Frozen Accounts Analysis Report line, batch menu no. 1915.
3. Press Enter. The parameter screen for this report appears.
4. Enter your tax office's Client ID.
5. Enter the Tax Year for which you want to see freeze information.
6. In the Data Source, enter CAD or REAL, depending on whether you want the report to look at the CAD or production tables.
7. (optional) In the Account No. field, enter a single account number to limit the data on the report.
8. (optional) In the Report No. field, enter the number(s) of the report(s) you want to generate. A description of each report is given below
9. (optional, Harris County tax offices only) Enter the Begin and End HCTO Roll Nos.
10. In the CAD/Staging Tables Request Seq. No. field, enter the request sequence number generated when you loaded the file(s) to the staging tables.
11. In the Create CSV File field, enter Y to create a .csv file of each report or N to not do this.
12. (optional) In the FTP Sub Directory field, enter a subdirectory path if you entered Y in the Create CSV File field and you do not want to put the .csv files in the top level of your tax office's ACT FTP directory.
13. Click Submit Job to start the process.
14. Click OK on the "OK to Submit Job" pop-up screen.
15. See Previewing and Printing Reports. The end time at the top of the Batch Request screen will appear only after all of the reports have been created.. Keep checking the batch request screen; this report may run for several minutes.

The reports are as follows:

(unnumbered)  The Account Cross-Reference Across Multiple Report lists which of the remaining reports each account number appears on.  At the bottom a log reports whether each report ran successfully or not.

For multi-owner accounts, owner 0 reflects the sum of freezes for all owners; individual owners may also be listed as owner 1, 2, etc.

1. Report 1: New Ceiling Year, No New Construction, Ceiling Exists for Last Year. This lists, for the tax year specified, any new freezes on accounts that also had freezes the previous year.  Tax units, owner no., exemptions for current (specified) and prior years, current year owner effective date, the new and old freeze levies and years, and current year new improvement value are given.  If the account did not have an ownership change, a new freeze should not have been granted.
2. Report 2: Current Year Ceiling Levy = $0 and Prior Year Homesite Improvement Value = $0. This lists accounts having a frozen levy of $0.00 and an $0.00 improvement value for the prior year.  Tax units, owner no., exemptions for current (specified) and prior years, current year owner effective date, the new and old freeze levies and years, and current year new improvement and land values are given.
3. Report 3: Accounts with Qualifying Freeze Exemptions but Ceiling Record Does Not Exist.  This lists accounts for the specified year that qualify for an frozen levy (O65, S65, S55, P65, P55, DRH) but do not have one. The owner no., tax unit, exemption, exemption amount, and owner effective date are provided.
4. Report 4: Ceiling Record Exists without Qualifying Freeze Exemption. This shows accounts that have a frozen levy but not one of the exemptions that should qualify it for the freeze.  The owner no., tax unit, exemption, owner effective date, freeze year and frozen levy listed in the current (specified) year, and the freeze year, frozen levy, and exemptions for the previous year.
5. Report 5: New Improvement on Existing Ceilings - Possible Calculation Errors.  This shows accounts with freezes and new improvements, where the frozen levy listed for the current year is different from the system calculated levy would be. The report lists the owner no., tax unit, exemption, owner effective date, freeze year and frozen levy listed in the current (specified) and prior years, and the new improvement amount for the current year are provided.
6. Report 6: Accounts with New Improvements on a New Ceiling.  This lists accounts with both a new ceiling for the specified year and new improvement value for that year. The owner no., tax unit, exemption, owner effective date, freeze year and frozen levy listed in the current (specified) year and the current year land, improvement, and new improvement values are provided.
7. Report 7: Accounts with Ceiling Levy Less than Prior Year Ceiling. This lists accounts with either new or old frozen levies where the current year levy is less than the previous year.  The owner no., tax unit, exemption, owner effective date, freeze year and frozen levy listed in the current (specified) and prior years, prior year qualifying exemptions, and the current year new improvement values are provided.
8. Report 8: Accounts with More than One Qualifying Exemption. This lists accounts having more than one exemption that qualifies for a frozen levy.  The owner no., tax unit, exemption, owner effective date, freeze year and frozen levy listed in the current (specified) and prior years, and prior year qualifying exemptions are provided.
9. Report 9: Receivable Levy Less than Ceiling Levy and a Non-Qualifying Value Exists. This lists complex accounts where the levy for the qualifying tax unit(s) is less than the frozen levy given in the Frozen Amount screen and non-qualifying values also exist.  In these cases, the levy should be higher than the frozen levy. The owner no., tax unit, exemption, owner effective date, freeze year and frozen levy listed in the current year Account Master screen, the levy given in the Receivable screen, and the current year agricultural and non-qualifying land and improvement are provided.
10. Report 10: Receivable Levy More than Ceiling Levy and a Non-Qualifying Value Does Not Exist. This lists accounts where the levy for the qualifying tax unit(s) is more than the frozen levy given in the Frozen Amount screen and non-qualifying values do not exist.  These are not complex accounts, so the levy should not be higher.  The owner no., tax unit, exemption, owner effective date, freeze year and frozen levy listed in the current (specified) year, the levy given in the Receivable screen, and the current year agricultural and non-qualifying land and improvement are provided.
11. Report 11: New Owner in Previous Year Based on Owner Effective Date and Prior Year Has Ceiling. This lists accounts where an ownership change occurred in the previous year, a freeze existed in the previous year, and a new ceiling was given for the current year.  The owner no., tax unit, current and prior year qualifying exemptions, owner effective date, freeze year and frozen levy listed in the current (specified) and prior years are listed.
12. Report 12: Potential New Owner in Previous Year Based on Owner Name and Prior Year Has Ceiling. This lists accounts with a prior year freeze that were given a new freeze for the current year due to an ownership change.  This may just be a change such as adding 'Jr.' to an account, which should not require a new freeze to be assessed.  The owner no., tax unit, current and prior year qualifying exemptions, owner effective date, freeze year and frozen levy listed in current (specified) and prior years are listed.
13. Report 13: Supplemental Freeze Report. This reports data only when against CAD data, not REAL data. Up to three reports will be generated. These are the Freezes To Be Deleted, Freezes To Be Inserted, and Freezes To Be Updated reports, plus a summary page.  Each report lists the old and new homesite, non-qualifying, and new improvement values for the freezes to be changed or added.  Each also lists exemptions and freeze year for both the Old Values and New Values sections.  It is sorted by account number.
14. Report 16: Name Change, No New Qualifying Exemption Date. This compares CAD data in the specified year (the left side of the report) to real data in the prior year (the right side of the report). For each account, the owner no., unit, current year qualifying exemption, freeze year for the current year, current year frozen levy, prior year freeze year, prior year frozen levy, and prior year exemption are given.
15. Report 17: Qualifying Exemption Changes, No New Qualifying Exemption Date.This compares CAD data in the specified year (the left side of the report) to real data in the prior year (the right side of the report). For each account, the owner no., unit, current year qualifying exemption, freeze year for the current year, current year frozen levy, prior year freeze year, prior year frozen levy, and prior year exemption are given.
    
16. Report 18: Qualifying Date Increases by One Year. This compares CAD data in the specified year (the left side of the report) to real data in the prior year (the right side of the report). The exemption in this case remains the same but the qualifying exemption date increases by one year. The frozen levy is recalculated as a result.
17. Report 19: No Name Change, No Exemption Change, Qualifying Exemption Date changes. This compares CAD data in the specified year (the left side of the report) to real data in the prior year (the right side of the report). The frozen levy is recalculated as a result.
18. Report 20: Current Year Accounts with Current Freeze Year and Port Percentage. This considers data in the real tables only. For each account, the owner no., unit, port year and percent for the specified year , freeze year and frozen levy are given.
19. Report 21:  Current Year Accounts with Prior Freeze Year and Port Percentage. This considers data in the real tables only. For each account, the owner no., unit, port year and percent for the year prior to the specified year , freeze year and frozen levy are given
20. Report 22: Current Year Accounts with New Improvement and a CAP Exclusion. This considers data in the real tables only. For each account, the owner no., unit, frozen levy, and new improvement value for the specified year are given.
21. Report 23: Current Year Accounts with Prior Year Freeze, shows 2% of Prior Year Frozen Levy. This considers data in the real tables only. The freeze year, current year frozen levy, prior year frozen levy and difference between those two amounts are also displayed.