KEEP_FREEZE_CALCTYPE_S – If set to N, a U will be entered when the Save & Calculate Levy is done. – If set to Y and Save & Calculate Levy is clicked, the Calculation Type will be set to S. – ACT recommends that this preference be set to N since once set to U, changes in value and exemption will cause the freeze to not be recalculated. 2

CEILING_FRWRD_ON_NAME_CHANGES – If set to Y, the Ceiling Owner name in the Frozen Amount screen does not change even if a certified owner name change was done during the year, but the ceiling will still apply for the next year. Many clients set this to Y at certified since name changes are often styling changes, like from Dawn Gamache et ux to John and Dawn Gamache. 3

CEILING_FRWRD_ON_NAME_CHANGES – If this preference is set to N, the old freeze no longer applies when a name change occurs. A new freeze may be set if the new owner qualifies. Name changes are determined by the comparison of names, NOT by the owner effective date or any other criteria. 4

OWNER_EXEMPTION_EFFECTIVE_DATE – If set to OWNER, and the owner effective date is set to something other than January 1 of the tax year; the frozen levy remains the same for the remainder of that year. The following year a new freeze will be calculated for the new owner. – If set to EXEMPTION, the system will use the begin date of the qualifying exemption to determine if a new freeze should be entered. The Start Date for O65 and DRH exemptions is required. These dates are stored in the Qualifying Exemption Date on the Owner Detail screen. – If Expired, this preference will allow the program to look for changes in the certified owner name when setting new freezes without considering these dates. 5

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 regardless of HOM existing on the account. – 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. 6

CEILING_WITH_HOMESTEAD: – Enter Y to allow freezes only if the account has a homestead exemption. – Enter N to allow freezes if the account has either an O65 or DRH and no homestead. 7

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 (O65, DRH) have changed for the new year. The owner is the same for both years but the qualifying exemption has changed. – Set to N to create a new freeze if the exemptions have changed for the new year, even if the change is just from one qualifying exemption to another. (O65 to S65 or DRH) 8

APPR_DIST_SPLIT_NEW_IMPR: – Set to N to prevent new improvement value from being split between qualifying and non- qualifying values. – For Harris County CAD loads, set this to Y to allow this split when the homestead percentage is less than 100%. 9

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. (Some tax offices may not want to include School in this preference listing) – If the preference is expired, the SRH exemption is not applied. 10

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. 11

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 manually. 12

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 to Y to allow a capped exclusion to be calculated even if the account has no homestead exemption. – Set to N to require the homestead exemption. 13

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. – If the FREEZE_CALC_METHOD preference is set to APPRAISED, ACT calculates the new improvement value x the tax rate and adds that to last year's frozen levy to get the new year's frozen levy (New Improvement Amount x Rate/100 = New Improvement Levy + Existing Freeze = New Frozen Amount). – If the preference is set to TAXABLE, ACT takes the difference between the full calculated levy including the new improvement value and the full calculated levy for the same year if no new improvement were included. We then add that value to last year's frozen levy. (Full Calculated Homesite Levy with New Improvement - Full Calculated Homesite Levy without New Improvement = New Improvement Levy + Existing Freeze = New Frozen Amount). 14

APPRAISED Example: – Account has, for tax unit 1 (a county) in the new tax year, an appraised homesite value of 187,280 that includes new improvement of 20,000. Unit 1 has a.20% homestead local option exemption and an O65 of $100,000. The account has an existing prior year freeze of for that unit. Using the above calculation, the new frozen amount is 20,000 x /100 = =

TAXABLE Example: Account has, for tax unit 1 in the new tax year, an appraised homesite value of 187,280 that includes new improvement of 20,000. The account has an existing prior year freeze of for a county unit. Unit 1 has a 20% homestead local option exemption and an O65 of $100,000. After the exemption values have been applied, the taxable value is 48,244. The levy is 48,244 x /100 = Now take the 167,280, which is the appraised amount without the new improvement value. After the exemption values have been applied, the taxable value is 33,824. The levy is 33,824 x /100 = The difference between the two levies is = The new frozen amount is =