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Adding Frozen Levies

Last Revised:  February 7, 2024

 

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Use the Frozen Amount screen to view or change frozen levy information for specific accounts. If you make levy changes on the Account Master screens that affect the freeze levy, note that you must manually change the levy; pressing Save and Calculate Levy will NOT change the frozen levy on any account unless the client preference CALCULATE_FREEZE_ONLINE is set to Y.

Levies for the homesite portion of an entity's taxes can be frozen for taxpayers who are over 65 or disabled.  If improvements are subsequently made during the year, additional taxes will be assessed that year on the new improvement portion of the property value. The frozen levy amount will change to include those additional taxes. The freeze year on the account changes to the year of these new improvements.

If changes to freezes are made through a supplement/correction load, an S will be entered in the Calculation Type in the Frozen Amount screen.  If a user makes a manual change on this screen, a U will be entered when the Save & Calculate Levy is done.  A 'U' CANNOT be changed back to an S for that roll year.  If a freeze change comes through on a correction load after a U has been created, the freeze will not change when the batch menu supplement/correction processes are run; it must be changed manually.

For freezes affected from 2019 forward by the 2023 SB2 legislative change, freezes for school districts will be compressed. The compression rate is calculated as the Maximum Compressed Rate (MCR) from the selected year subtracted from the M&O rate in the prior year. See Frozen Levy Overview for more information.

ClosedUser Entitlements

The following user entitlements must be set for each user who needs access to the Frozen Amount screen. They are part of the  Make Frozen Levy Account Master Changes and View Only Major Screens tasks.

Users having any job can view the Frozen Amount screen. Changes can be made with the CAD Changes Save and Calc AG Rollback and CAD Wizard jobs, although the latter job only allows changes to be made in the CAD tables. See Tasks, Entitlements, and Jobs for more information.

ACT8002: Allow users to view the Account Master screens.

PRIOR_YEAR_BUILD: Allow users to click the Prior Year button.

ACCTM_SAVE_AND_CALC_BUTTON:Allow users to click the Save and Calculate button.

ACCTM_FROZEN_AMOUNTS_UPDATE: Allow users to change and insert information on the Frozen Amounts tab.

ACCTM_VIRTUAL_FREEZE_UPDATE: Allows users to make changes to virtual freeze information.

OVERRIDE_FREEZE_CALCTYPE: Check this to allow users to manually change the Calculation Type on the Frozen Amount screen. Uncheck this to forbid users to change the Calculation Type; this field will be grayed on the screen. ACT recommends that this be unchecked for each user.

ACCTM_PART_OWN_FRZ_COMP_UPDATE: Update the Partial Owner Frozen Compression field on the Account Master Frozen Amounts tab

ClosedClient Preferences

NI_LOCAL_PCT:  Obsolete as of January 2008.

COMPARE_CEILING: Set the preference to Y to allow the system to compare the calculated levy between the first and second years an account is eligible for a freeze if the first year of eligibility has no HOM exemption and the second year does have that exemption; the frozen levy will be set to the lowest of the two levies. Set the preference to N to always have the freeze year and levy set to what is on the account the first year of the O65 or DRH (if the qualifying exemption changes, however, the exemption CEILING_FRWRD_ON_EXCODE_CHANGESis applied; see the table below). Set this to D if you always do a compare between the first and second years of a freeze even if an HOM exemption is present the first year.

CALCULATE_LEVY_YEAR: If this is set to a prior year, you cannot recalculate levy for the current or future year. You can make the changes on the Account Master screens, but the Save and Calculate button will be disabled. You can use the Save (F10) button but this will not recalculate the levy.

CEILING_FROM_CAD: Enter Y to have the frozen levy amounts put in the CAD tables with a year calculated as current year + 2. This is used when certified rolls are loaded in order to do comparisons. Enter N to have the frozen levies loaded with a year of current year + 1 in the CAD tables. The default is N.

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.

CEILING_FRWRD_ON_EXCODE_CHANGE: 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. Note that the ceiling owner's name is not changed by the system when a freeze is rolled forward; you should change it manually if needed. Set to N to create a new freeze if the name changes even 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.

FREEZE_ADJ_LOCAL_PCT: Obsolete as of January 2008

OWNER_EXEMPTION_EFFECTIVE DATE (used to be USE_OWNER_DATE):Enter OWNER to use the owner effective year as the primary criteria for determining whether a name change has occurred when comparing the production to the CAD tables.  (For HCAD files, the Owner Exists flag must also either be set to N or be left blank for a the owner effective year to change on a name change. This flag can be seen in the HCAD File Inquiry Screen. If this flag is set to Y, the owner effective year will not be changed; a new deed was not issued on the property, perhaps because the change was a correction to an existing name or a change to a surviving spouse.) Enter EXEMPTION to use the begin date of the qualifying exemption to determine if a new freeze should be entered. If this is set to EXEMPTION, the Start Date for HOM, O65 and DRH exemptions is required. These dates are also stored in the Qualifying Exemption Date on the Owner Detail screen. If the date is after 1/1/yyyy, partial exemption codes will be used (PRH instead of DRH, P65 instead of O65, and --though not considered for freezes--PAH instead of HOM). The Allocation factor on the Special Exemptions screen also will be adjusted.Expire this preference to allow the program to look for changes in the certified owner name when setting new freezes.

USE_PREV_HOM_IN_CEILING: If OWNER_EXEMPTION_EFFECTIVE_DATE is set to OWNER and this is set to Y, the frozen levy calculation for the year of ownership change (the first year of the ceiling compare - see above) will use the previous owner's HOM exemption if the previous owner only had an HOM exemption. In this case, the freeze year is always set to the first year of the freeze even if the ceiling compare process determines the second year levy is the actual frozen levy. The virtual frozen levy is set to the first year calculation, as is the virtual frozen year. Set to N if in the same situation, the previous owner's HOM exemption should not be used in calculating the first year of the ceiling.

HOMESTEAD_CAP: Homestead exemptions are calculated on and subtracted from capped value instead of gross value. Set to Y (yes) or N (no).

CAP_WITHOUT_HOMESTEAD: Set toY to allow a capped exclusion to be calculated even if the account has no homestead exemption. Set toN to require the homestead exemption. If set to N, a CAP exemption will still appear as a special exemption, but the amount will not be considered when calculating levy.  This is needed to balance to the appraisal district.

KEEP_FREEZE_CALCTYPE_S: Enter Y to allow the Calc Type on the Frozen Amount screen to remain the same when changes are made on that screen manually. Enter N to have the Calc Type change from 'S' to 'U (user)' in this case. The default and ACT-recommended setting is N.If the frozen levy is changed manually a '-U' is added to the end of the Operator ID on the Frozen Amount screen.

APPR_DIST_SPLIT_NEW_IMPR: Set to N (the default) to prevent new improvement value from being split between qualifying and non-qualifying values. Tax offices that process Harris County Appraisal District files may set this to Y to allow this split when the homestead percentage is less than 100%. In these cases, the homestead percentage is multiplied times the new improvement value to determine the homesite new improvement value. The remainder of the new improvement value is put in the non-qualifying new improvement value in the Property Value and Apport tables.

SRH_FREEZE_UNIT_TYPE: Enter the unit types from the Tax Unit Maintenance screen for which freezes can be given on SRH (surviving disable spouse) exemptions. The default is SCHOOL,CITY,COUNTY,COLLEGE. On the Frozen Amount screen, SRH will appear in the drop-down list for units having one of these types. Some tax offices may not want to include School in this preference listing.   If the preference is expired, the exemption is not listed.

FRZ_RESET_NO_HOM_CNTY_CODES: If the USE_OWNER_DATE preference is set to Y, enter the county code(s) for the counties that require a new freeze to be created if an ownership change occurs and the homestead exemption is removed (if the CEILING_WITH_HOMESTEAD preference is set to N). The scenario driving this change is that if the appraisal district determines the property (which had an existing freeze for a prior owner) was vacant on 1/1/yyyy, a homestead cannot be granted to the property owner (not all appraisal districts interpret this scenario the same way). If FRZ_RESET_NO_HOM_CNTY_CODE is expired, it will be ignored, and, depending on how other preferences are set, a freeze could be carried forward on ownership changes where the homestead exemption is also removed. If the CEILING_WITH_HOMESTEAD preference is set to Y, and the homestead exemption is removed, the freeze will be removed. (CEILING_WITH_HOMESTEAD is considered no matter what the USE_OWNER_DATE is set to.)

COUNTY_CODES_NO_UPDATE_PORT: If expired (the default), allow ported freezes to be updated for all counties when processing appraisal district files. Otherwise, enter the county codes (separated by comma) for counties not wanting ported freezes to be updated as a result of an appraisal district load.

CALCULATE_FREEZE_ONLINE: Set to Y to calculate frozen levy when pressing Save and Calculate Levy. Set to N to not do this, in which case frozen levies must be set on the Frozen Amount tab of Account Master.

SHOW_UNDIVIDED_INTERESTED_FREEZE: Set to Y to show the Partial Owner Frozen Levy field on the Frozen Amount screen. Set to N to hide this field. The field will be used to store frozen levy amounts for owners having less than 100% ownership.

AFTER_COMPRESSED_VAL_END_YR: Enter the last tax year for which the Display Compression Calculation button will be displayed on this screen. The default is 2022.

FREEZE_CALC_METHOD: Set to APPRAISED to use appraised homesite value when calculating freezes. Set to TAXABLE to use taxable homesite value (appraised minus exemptions) for freeze calculations. This affects freezes with new improvement.

Note: ACT creates a freeze record the year that a taxpayer turns over 65 or, in the case of disabled exemptions, not earlier than 2004. However, the levy is not truly frozen until the certified roll is loaded the following year and a freeze record is created for that new year.  Adjustments made during that first year will thus be taken into account in determining the actual frozen levy.  

Freeze information can be viewed even if the account is missing an Owner ID.

  1. From the Main Menu, click the Account Status () button or select Inquiry, then Account Status, or click the Go To drop-down list and select Account Status.  The Account Status screen will appear.   
  2. If the account has carried over from a previous screen, go to step 3.  
    If the Account Number field is blank, enter the account number, press F8, then go to step 3.

    If you need to enter a different account number, press F7, key in the new account number, press F8, then go to step 3.

Note: If you don't know your account number, see Locating an Account. Check the current levy and current tax units

  1. Check the current levy and current tax units. For tax units that offer frozen levies, you must check the Grant Tax Ceiling checkbox in the Tax Unit Maintenance screen.
  2. From the Go To list, click Account Master.  The Account Master Summary screen will appear.
  3. If you need to add a frozen levy for the current year, skip to step 6.  If you need to add a frozen levy for a prior year, follow the steps below:
  1. Click Prior Year(s).
  2. Click Prior Year Rebuild.
  3. Click Prior Year(s).
  4. Using the drop-down list, select the year to view.  The list contains only those years that have been archived. If you want to see another year, key in that year in the year field.
  5. Click OK. The Account Master Summary screen will display.

WARNING: If you want to view data for a paid account in a prior year and your tax office has had its paid account data loaded into ACT's archive tables, the property values and jurisdictions for the rebuilt year will be inserted. Please check them for accuracy. Enter any exemptions into either the Account Master Summary or Special Exemptions tabs.  Remember to return to the Account Master Summary screen and press F10 (Save).

For unpaid prior year accounts and paid accounts that haven't been put into the archive tables, zeroes will show in the value fields for the year you rebuild if the client preference POPULATE_EQUAL_VALUES is set to N.  If the preference is set to Y, the property values will be populated with data from the Receivable and Property Value screens.   If no values exist for that year in those screens, $0.00 values will be inserted. Please check the values for accuracy.  Remember to enter any exemptions, then press F10 (Save).  

A Receivable is not created unless it existed in the archive tables or in the regular production tables before doing this Prior Year rebuild.

  1. If the CALCULATE_FREEZE_ONLINE preference is set to N, skip to the next step.

If the client preference CALCULATE_FREEZE_ONLINE is set to Y, you can calculate and remove freezes from the Account Master screen by adding the qualifying exemption, then clicking Save and Calculate Levy. If the preference OWNER_EXEMPTION_EFFECTIVE_DATE is set to EXEMPTION, you will also need to add the exemption Start Date.

  1. Click the Frozen Amounts tab.  The Frozen Amounts screen will appear.
  2. Press Tab.  The Certified Owner and Legal Description fields will automatically display.
  3. Enter the Tax Unit of the school district or eligible city, county, or college district.
  4. From the Exemption drop-down list, select Over 65 or another appropriate exemption.
  5. Enter the Freeze Year.

Note:  The Freeze Year is the year the certified owner became eligible for an O65 exemption.  The freeze does not take effect until the year after the one entered here.

If this account already has a frozen levy, the Freeze Year will be noted in the Account Master Summary screen, in the Last Frozen Year field.

  1. Enter the Frozen Levy amount.  

Note:  You can find this amount in the Receivable screen in the Levyfield for the Freeze Year's school district tax unit.  However, if this property includes non-homesite values, these values will have to be excluded from the taxable value before the frozen levy amount is calculated.

  1. Click the Summary tab.  
  2. Click Save and Calculate Levy.  
  3. Click OK to the confirmation message.

Notes:  The system will recalculate the levy based on the frozen levy information.  

Repeat steps 6 - 15 for each year that is affected by the addition of a frozen levy.

  1. From the Go To list, select Account Status to verify that the levy has changed as expected.