I
BELIEVE A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF MULTI-INTEREST PARCELS, AKA “PARENT/CHILD”
PARCELS, IS IN ORDER, SINCE FINGING THEM IN THE SYSTEM, AND UNDERSTANDING THE
HOWS AND WHYS OF SUCH PARCELS CAN BE DIFFICULT IF YOU DON’T KNOW THE SYSTEM.
BECAUSE
OF A SOMERSET COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS CASE B ACK IN THE 70’S, THIS OFFICE
OPERATES UNDER A COURT ORDER TO SEPARATELY ASSESS EACH INTEREST IN PROPERTIES
OWNED IN INTEREST (i.e. YOU OWN ˝ INTEREST AND I OWN ˝ INTEREST IN THE ENTIRE
PROPERTY). WE ARE THE ONLY COUNTY IN
BECAUSE
EACH OWNER MUST RECEIVE A SEPARATE BILL FOR HIS OR HER SHARE OF THE TAXES, AND
BECAUSE OUR COMPUTER SYSTEM WAS NOT DESIGNED TO DO THIS,
1.
VALUE 100% OF THE
PARCEL AND…
2.
SEPARATE THAT
VALUE INTO PROPORTIONATE SHARE AMONG THE OWNERS.
THIS
PRESENTED A PROBLEM SINCE THE SYSTEM VALUES THE PARCEL IN CAMA (COMPUTER
ASSESTED MASS APPRAISAL) AND THE RESULTING VALUE IS THEN POSTED TO AA
(ASSESSMENT ADMINISTRATION). THE BILLS
ARE PRINTED FROM AA. SINCE CAMA WILL
ONLY VALUE A WHOLE (100%) PARCEL THE “PARENT/CHILD” METHOD WAS DEVELOPED AND
PROGRAMMED INTO OUR SYSTEM.
IT
WORKS THIS WAY.
MULTI-INTEREST
PARCELS ARE IDENTIFIED TO CAMA ONLY BY THE PARENT PARCEL, WHICH HAS IN IT ALL
THE DATA NECESSARY TO VALUE IT. SO, ONE
OF THE INTERESTS WILL BE DESIGNATED AS THE PARENT, USUALLY THE ONE THAT RETAINS
THE ORIGINAL REFERENCE NUMBER. FOR NEW
PARCELS, THE LOWEST NUMBER IS USED FOR THE PARENT. THAT NUMBER IS THEN ALTERED TO IDENTIFY IT TO
THE COMPUTER AS THE “PARENT” AS FOLLOWS…
·
NORMAL REFERENCE
NUMBER…………………………....010001000
·
THE SAME NUMBER
AS A MULTI-INTEREST PARENT…..01090100P
AS
YOU CAN SEE, “PARENT” PARCELS HAVE A “9” IN THE FOURTH POSITION AND ARE
FOLLOWED BY THE CHARACTER “P”. TO LOOK
AT A MULTI-INTEREST PARCEL’S DATA IN CAMA YOU MUST KNOW THE PARENT PARCEL AND
ENTER THE NUMBER WITH THE “9” AND THE “P” IN THE APPROPRIATE LOCATIONS. REMEMBER, THE VALUE DETERMINED FOR THE PARENT
WILL BE 100% OF THE VALUE OF THE PARCEL.
IT ALL GETS DIVVIED UP IN AA.
NEXT
WE HAVE THE”CHILD” PARCELS. IN AA, THE
PROPORTIONATE SHARES ARE IDENTIFIED AND SEPARATED, WITH EACH “CHILD” GETTING
ONLY ITS PERCENTAGE SHARE OF THE VALUE.
ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE FIRST SCREEN IN THE RECORD YOU WILL SEE THE
SHARE FOR THAT RECORD AS A DECIMAL, THE REFERENCE NUMBER OF THE PARENT PARCEL
AND THE SEQUENCE NUMBER FOR THE CHILD RECORD YOU HAVE ACCESSED. CHILD PARCEL REFERENCE NUMBERS ARE
·
NORMAL REFERENCE
NUMBER…………………………………010001000
·
MULTI-INTEREST
CHILD PARCEL REFERENCE NUMBER…...010001000C
CHILD
PARCELS CAN ONLY BE ACCESSED IN AA AND MUST HAVE THE “C” AT THE END OF THE REFERENCE
NUMBER TO BE FOUND. THE PARENT NUMBER
WILL HAVE ITS CHILD AS WELL.
·
PARENT REFERENCE
NUMBER…………………………………..010901000P
·
CHILD REFERENCE
NUMBER FOR PARENT SHARE…………..010001000C
WE
UNDERSTAND THAT THIS MIGHT LOOK CONFUSING, AND IT HAS BEEN, EVEN TO US. BUT, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, EVENTUALLY IT MAKES
SENSE. JUST REMEMBER A FEW SIMPLE RULES
AND YOU WILL FIND THAT IT DOES WORK.
1.
PARENT PARCELS
ARE FOUND IN CAMA AND CONTAIN ALL DATA AND 100% OF THE VALUE FOR THE PARCEL.
2.
CHILD PARCELS ARE
FOUND ONLY IN AA, HAVE NO CORRESPONDING DATA RECORD IN CAMA OTHER THAN THE
PARENT RECORD, AND, HAVE ONLY THEIR PERCENTAGE SHARES OF THE VALUE.
3.
PARENT PARCELS
HAV A “9” IN THE FOURTH POSITION OF THE REFERENCE NUMBER AND A “P” AT THE END.
4.
CHILD PARCELS
HAVE A “C” AT THE END OF THE REFERENCE NUMBER.
LET
ME OFFER A HINT FOR MORE EASILY FINDING ALL THE “CHILDREN”. IF YOU CAN GET THE MAP NUMBER, USE IT TO DO A
SEARCH. IT WILL BRING UP ALL THE
“CHILDREN” AND THE “PARENT” IN ONE GROUP.
THAT CAN CONSIDERABLY SPEED UP THE PROCESS OF FINDING ALL OF THE OWNERS.