Starting New Claims

The processes on the top row of this menu work with the New Claim table. This is a temporary table where the tax claim information is entered until it has been reviewed and passed several verification steps that are described below.

This process imports tax claims from two text files created by the G&B Tax Collection program into the New Claims table. The program prompts for the Township/Borough to import, the tax type, tax file and drive. The tax type indicates whether to import a municipal file, school file or combined (both) file. Adams County returns the taxes separately and Wayne County returns them together. Tax file indicates whether the file is for Current Year taxes or Previous Year taxes. The Previous Year is used only by Adams County to return school interim taxes issued after the start of the new year. The Drive provides the user the possibility of importing from a drive other than the default location. The default location in Wayne County is \\chfs1\TClaims\taxclaim\YYYY (\\chfs1\TClaims is the UNC for the G: drive) where YYYY is the tax year to import. Before importing the program checks to see if records for this import already exist. If so, then it offers the user the choice of deleting the existing records before importing the file or cancelling the import. The text file containing the tax claim information is named TCYYYYDDX.txt where YYYY is the tax claim year, DD is the district number and X indicates M for municipal, S for School or B for Both. A previous year file will be named the same way with an "I" after the tax type. After the initial import of the tax claim information the program will import a second file named TIYYYYDDX.txt which contains installment payment information. This information is not currently in use but could be used to apply additional qualifications on installment eligibility for a taxpayer.

In the event that a tax collector does not provide an import file the tax claims must be entered with a manual process. This button opens a form that will create a record for each tax claim. The user begins this process by entering a control number or tax map number. The program will use this information to look up the tax information from the billing files. The user needs to verify and correct if necessary each piece of the pre-filled information because it could have changed in the time since the bills were issued. When the information on the form is correct the user can click on the Add Tax Claim button to add the claim to the New Claims table.

This report displays all of the tax claims for a district in a one line format on legal size paper in landscape orientation. It is useful for checking basic information about a return and matching the tax totals with those reported by the tax collector. The user has the choice of Tax Map or Alphabetical order.

This process creates two reports for a selected district. A two page Tax Claim Return cover page that displays the tax totals and a signature line for the Tax Claim Bureau director on the first page and instructions and sign off location for the taxing authorities on the second. A Tax Claim Return in a format traditionally kept at the counter that includes space for recording payments and other notations. Ths Tax Claim Return is intended to be printed on legal or 11 X 17 inch paper in landscape mode.

This process creates two reports for a selected district. The first compares the tax map number, name and address entered in the New Claims table with the information currently stored for the property in the Tax Claim system. The second compares the tax map number, name and address entered in the New Claims table with the information currently stored for the property in the Assessment office system. The second report is not available in Wyoming County because we do not have access to their assessment data.

After doing various check if an error is identified in the New Claim data this form will allow the user to edit the information before it is made part of the permanent tax claim record.

When all of the new claims information is correct this process will create the permanent records in the Tax Claim system for a selected district. For properties with no existing property claim record the program will create records for the property and owners. The program will then create a Tax Claim record for each property containing the tax amounts owed and other information.

The Tax Map Compare Report compares the tax map turned in with with the current year Tax Claim with the tax map on the Property Claim record. This lets the user know if the property might need to have the tax map updated. The program does not make this change automatically during the import.

This process creates a list of districts with a count of tax claims for the current year.

This process will post the Basic Fee as a cost for all unsettled claims for the current year. The amount of the Basic Fee can be found and changed by going to Support Information from the Main Menu then clicking on Tax Claim Parameters. If the Basic Fee has changed it must be updated prior to running this process. The Basic Fee can be applied one district at a time or to all of the districts at once.

The Docket is a report similar in format to the Tax Claim Return. I displays each property turned in for the current year with the owner's name and address and the tax amounts. It is intended to be printed on legal or 11 X 17 inch paper in landscape mode.

This process creates a permanent copy of the records necessary to print a Notice of Claim. By doing this we can reprint a Notice of Claim for a property any time in the future and it will contain the same information as the original. The program prompts for the interest date so the the interest will be calculated correctly for the date the notices will be printed.

This report displays all of the properties to receive a Notice of Claim. It uses one line to display the name, address and property information and one line for each outstanding tax year. It is intended to be printed on legal or 11 X 17 inch paper in landscape mode.

This process exports the address information in the Notice table to a DBF file for processing by the Mailers program. The Mailers program provides postal pre-sort information that qualifies the mailing for postage discounts. As of 2/21/17 this function is not in use because Adams and Wayne use an outside mailing service and Wyoming doesn't use the Mailers program. If this process is to be used again it may need to be modified or the configuration of the program may require some change as recent versions of Access no longer support DBF files by default.

This process imports the postal pre-sort information into the Notice table. It is the companion process to Export to Mailers. As of 2/21/17 this function is not in use because Adams and Wayne use an outside mailing service and Wyoming doesn't use the Mailers program. If this process is to be used again it may need to be modified or the configuration of the program may require some change as recent versions of Access no longer support DBF files by default.

This report provides Return & Claim Notices except for properties that have a status of Closed or Bankrupt. Even though they don't print their own notices it is used in Wayne County in conjunction with the Save to Sale Docs functionality to attach a copy of the notice in PDF format to each property.

This report lists all of the properties to receive a Return & Claim Notice in a choice of Alphabetic, Cert Number or Tax Map order.

This process exports the Notice & Claim data to two text files so that it can be sent to an outside vendor for printing. Notice.txt contains basic information about the property, control number, tax map, owner etc. NoticeBalances.txt contains the outstanding amount of taxes, interest and so on with one record for each property for each year. The files are saved to the TaxClaim folder on the network drive in a folder corresponding to year the notice file was created.

The post office manifest uploads a file to the post office for the mailing of the Return & Claim Notices. This is no longer in use as Adams and Wayne counties have their mailing done by an outside vendor and Wyoming does not do automated mailings.

This process prompts the user for an amount to post for the Return and Claim Fee. It posts this fee to every property that has an unsettled tax claim for the current year and is marked as Pre-Upset with the description "R&C Mailing Fee".

This report provides a modified Return & Claim Notice for posting properties if the certified Return & Claim mailing failed. The user is prompted for Poster or Certification and a range of Tax Map numbers. If Poster is selected the program simply prints the poster but if Certification is selected it also asks the user if they want a posting fee applied to the properties. The form to change the amount of the Posting Fee can accessed by going the the Supporting Information Menu and clicking on Tax Claim Parameters. The range of Tax Maps can be used to limit the number of posters, for example the county may wish to post properties a few townships at a time because payments will continue to come in during the posting period. If the tax map range is left blank then posters are printed for the entire county. Posters are only printed unflagged properties that are not marked as Closed or Bankrupt.

This report provides labels (30 to a sheet) for each property receiving a Return & Claim Notice.

This process imports the Certified Mail Numbers from a text file provided by Government Services.

This button opens a form that will allow the user to create a new Property Claim/Tax Claim without going through the usual New Claims process used when properties are turned in by the tax collectors. This should not generally be used but is here just in case.

This report prompts the user for a district and sort order for the report then lists all of the tax claims for the current year. The list comes from the permanent copy of the tax claim data, not from the New Claim data provided by the tax collectors.

This form allows the user to edit the tax amounts on the current year tax claims. This should generally not be done. Any changes the the tax amounts should be handled using Adjustment Receipts so as to maintain an audit trail. It is here just i

This process only works in Wayne County for properties with current year tax claims. It prompts the user for a township then: Updates the Tax Map on the Property Claim record to match the Tax Map from the Assessment Office. For parties that are linked to clients in the assessment office it updates the name, address and phone numbers.

This opens a form that allow the user to enter the date the certified mail was returned. It is only used in Wyoming County because this date up updated automatically in Adams and Wayne when the certified mail information is imported from the post office.

Opens a form that allows the user to view/add/edit information regarding an Act 319 Breach.

Opens a form that allows the user to create a Tax Claim record for an Act 319 Breach.

This button closes the Starting New Claims Menu.