Weaving Your Own Safety Net with Local Backups

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Amy

Several times a year we get a call from a user in full-on panic mode because a hard drive on their town’s server has crashed and no one seems to be able to locate a recent backup of their system’s data.  While we generally configure automated backups on the server when we install, without routine maintenance it’s difficult to ensure that these will remain a viable resource in the event a restore is needed.  Scripted tasks can stop working if someone changes passwords, directories can get moved or renamed, old tapes can fail — there are any number of reasons why the backups you think you have may not actually exist when you need them.  Fortunately, regardless of the Avitar application(s) you use, there is a simple process by which you the user can ensure you always have a recent system backup in the event of a catastrophic failure on the server.  It is impossible to overstate the value of you the user taking control of your own backup procedures by following these simple steps.

Continue reading →

Posted in Assessing Software, Building Permit Software, Clerk/MV Software, Tax Collect Software, Utility Billing Software | Tagged | Leave a comment

Tax Kiosk Usage Information

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Josh

It was great to see so many of you again at last week’s conference in North Conway. During  our break-out vendor session on Tuesday, the presentation and discussion focused almost exclusively on online tax bill presentment, payment, and paperless billing. For those of you who are not online yet, or are online in a limited capacity, we will be posting videos in the coming weeks to help you and/or your selectmen understand the process better. As we discussed in North Conway, in order for both current and prospective users to get a sense of the usage we’ve seen thus far for various towns, we wanted to provide you all with some snapshots and statistics.

Continue reading →

Posted in Tax Collect Software | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Applying an Abatement Refund to Outstanding Taxes

Posted on September 14, 2012 by Patty

Every now and then, we receive a call questioning if an abatement (which specifies an individual tax year) can be applied to another outstanding invoice for that owner from a different tax year. For example, the assessors give you an abatement for an owner’s 2010 property tax. When you go to post the abatement into Avitar’s Tax Collect system, you find the customer has paid his 2010 property taxes, but has an outstanding 2011 tax lien. The question is whether you are allowed to apply the abatement to his 2011 tax lien.

Continue reading →

Posted in Tax Collect Software | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Assigning Decal Color to 2014 Decal Inventory

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Patty

DMV is in the process of delivering the 2014 decal inventory. Once you receive the decals, the inventory will need to be added into the Avitar Clerk system. We’re aware that everyone knows how to add a batch of decals to the system; however, it is worth reiterating the process to change the decal background color in the system to match the current year decal color.

Continue reading →

Posted in Clerk MAAP Software | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Ability to “Re-Notice” Parcels for Deeding

Posted on August 27, 2012 by Patty

In order to assist our tax collectors who found themselves in the position of needing to send a second Deed Notice to a taxpayer, we added the Re-Notice Previous button to the Deed Notice dialog box.  Below you’ll find a brief description of a typical scenario in which you might need to utilize the Re-Notice Previous button, as well as instructions for doing so.

Continue reading →

Posted in Tax Collect Software | Tagged | Leave a comment

MAAP Error Messages

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Patty

If you have ever seen MAAP error messages, you know how cryptic they can be. In order to know what you need to fix, you have to read through a lengthy message and hope for a clue. Below are some common MAAP error messages and what they mean.

Continue reading →

Posted in Clerk MAAP Software | Tagged | Leave a comment

MS-1 & Pollution Control Exemptions

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Josh

Time for another episode in our dramatic and compelling web series focusing on the MS-1 Report.  Today we detail how to properly account for Pollution Control exemptions on Utility parcels.  This topic probably applies to about three of you.  If you are unsure whether it does apply in your case, you can review the RSA, contact your assessor, or follow the first step outlined below.  If this doesn’t apply to you, then you can tune in next time.

Continue reading →

Posted in Assessing Software | Tagged , | Leave a comment

2012 MS-1: Ghost Protocol

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Josh

The saga continues… Frequent and careful readers of this blog and/or newsletter distribution will recall that last week, in announcing the upcoming Assessing update, we stated that the “DRA did not make any significant changes to the format of the [MS-1] report itself for 2012.” Having not received any changes from the DRA, we went ahead and shipped the update on Monday. Turns out there’s more to the story now…

Continue reading →

Posted in Assessing Software | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Adding a Dog to an Existing Group License

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Patty

Let’s talk dogs. I know, it’s probably not on your top ten list of favorite topics, but it’s a discussion worth having. As I am sure you all know, a group dog license consists of five or more dogs and is charged a flat fee no matter how many dogs are in the license. What some of you may not know is how to add a new dog to the license process without charging an additional fee.

Continue reading →

Posted in Clerk/MV Software | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Assessing Update 3.6.5 and the MS-1

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Josh

We will be distributing the next update of Avitar Assessing on Monday, August 13th so look for your disc in the mail in the coming days.  This update was a long time in the making as it includes some pretty significant new features and capabilities, most notable of which is a new method for assessing parcels using a mass income approach to value.

Continue reading →

Posted in Assessing Software | Tagged , , | Leave a comment