Summary

The Fee Maintenance window is used to create and maintain fee codes. Fees are user-defined codes used to generate an associated transaction on a permit. There are seven types of fees that can be used to generate transactions on a permit: Credit, Deposit, Fee Based, Penalty, Project Cost Based, Standard, and Tax.

• A Credit fee is used to refund overpayments through the adjustments process.
• A Deposit fee is used to assess a deposit charge on a permit. Deposit fees can be quickly added when processing a new application through the Cash Receipts module.
• A Fee Based fee is used to assess charges on a permit based on the amount of another fee on the permit. The fee will be applied on the permit based on a percentage of the source fee amount.
• A Penalty fee is used to assess penalty charges on a permit. This could be used when a permit is past due or when a payment on a permit must be reversed because of non-sufficient funds.
• A Project Cost Based fee is used to assess charges based on the project cost of the permit. A permit's project cost is determined on the Valuation tab of the Permit Maintenance window.
• A Standard fee is the general method used to assess charges on a permit. Standard fees can be based on a fixed amount or a rate structure.
• A Tax fee is used to charge a percentage-based tax fee to a permit. Tax fees are attached to other fees and assessed when the original fee is attached to the permit.

Because the Building Permits module is cash-based, the application of fees will not create any related GL journal entries. The General Ledger will only be affected when payments are received for fees assessed in Cash Receipts or credits are generated in order to return overpayments or deposits. This allows you to edit a fee after it has been attached to a permit without affecting the General Ledger.

Step by Step

1     View the existing fees.

• The Fee Selection window (BP> Maintenance> Fees) displays all of the fees created in the BP Module.
• Click the Expand button next to a fee to view the fee details.
• Highlight a fee and click the Delete icon or press DELETE to delete the selected fee.
  • Fees that are attached to other fees as late or penalty fees cannot be deleted.
• Highlight a fee and click the Modify icon to edit the selected fee.
• Click the Create icon to open the Fee Maintenance window.

2     Create a new fee.

• The Fee Maintenance window displays the fee details. Click the Copy icon if you would like to create a new revision of the selected fee. This will copy the fee details and create a new revision below the current revision on the Fee Selection window. You can then open the new revision and make the desired changes.
• Enter a unique Code for the new fee. The fee code can be up to eight alphanumeric characters.
  • Once a fee is created, the Code field cannot be changed.
• Enter a fee code Description. This optional field can be up to 60 alphanumeric characters.
• Select a Fee Type from the drop-down menu.
  • The available fee types are Credit, Deposit, Fee Based, Penalty, Project Cost Based, Standard and Tax. The fee type selected will determine which of the remaining fields are enabled.
• The Revision Number field will display the current fee revision.
• Specify an Effective Date for the current revision.
  • Once the fee has been saved, the effective date cannot be edited. This field will default to today's date.
• Enter a Fee Unit Type or click the field label to choose one from a list.
  • When charges are generated for a fee unit type based license, the license will bill, partially or wholly, based on the number of units specified under the Rates section. If no units are specified, no charges will be generated for this fee.
  • The Fee Unit Type field will only be active when creating a Standard fee.
  • Fee unit types are created and maintained on the Fee Unit Type Maintenance window (BP> Maintenance> Fee Unit Type).
• Enter a Payment Priority or click the field label to choose one from a list. This is a required field.
  • Payment priority codes determine the order in which fees are paid. Payment priorities are created and maintained on the Payment Priority Maintenance window (BP> Maintenance> Payment Priority).
• Attach an AR Account, Revenue Account and Cash Account to the fee. These accounts must be designated in order to create the fee.
  • Because BP is a cash-based system, the system will not automatically generate the debits and credits when the fee is added to an application or permit.
  • When payment is received, the system will debit the Cash Account and credit the AR Account.

• The system will not validate what type of account was entered, so you can enter any account you choose.

• If you would like to attach a Source Fee to the new fee, enter one in the Source Fee field or click the field label to choose one from a list. This field will only be active if Fee Based is selected in the Fee Type drop-down menu.
  • A source fee must be specified when creating a fee based fee in order for the fee based fee to calculate how much to assess. When assessing multiple fee based fees that share the same source fee, the source fee will only appear once on the Fees tab of the Permit Maintenance window.
  • If the Fee Selection window does not display a source fee, you will need to create one before it can be attached to another fee.
• Enter an amount in the Fixed Amount field if this fee code will be used for a transaction that is usually the same dollar amount.
  • The Fixed Amount field will only be active when creating a Deposit, Project Cost Based or Standard fee.
• The Minimum Threshold field is used to specify the minimum amount that must be reached in order for the fee to be assessed.
• Enter a charge range in the Minimum Charge and Maximum Charge fields.
• By default the Active toggle will be checked. If you do not want users to have access to this fee, un-check this toggle. This is usually done when a fee is no longer in use.
• Check the Accumulate rates for each tier toggle to accumulate rate amounts that fall across individual rate tiers.
  • For example, you might set up a late payment penalty fee tier system that looks like this:
    • 0 - 15 days late = $1 per day
    • 15 - 30 days late = $2 per day
    • 30 - 45 days late = $3 per day
  • If the Accumulate rates for each tier toggle is not checked, a penalty fee for a bill that is 40 days overdue would be $120 as it falls into the 30 - 45 days late tier (40 days x $3 per day).
  • If the Accumulate rates for each tier toggle is checked, a penalty fee for a bill that is 40 days overdue would be $75 as it is spread over all three tiers (15 days x $1 per day + 15 days x $2 per day + 10 days x $3 per day).
  • This toggle will not be active if the Fee Type is set to Deposit or Penalty.
• Add fees to the Tax Fees field.
  • The Tax Fees field will only be active if the Fee Type is set to Fee Based, Penalty, Project Cost Based, or Standard.
  • Click the Create icon drop-down menu and select New Tax Fee to add tax fees to this field. This will open a Fee Selection window.
  • If the Fee Selection window does not display a tax fee you will need to create one.

3     Add rates to the fee.

• The Rates section of the Fee Maintenance window is used in conjunction with the fee units specified on the fee. The rates section tells the system how much to charge for each unit specified on the license. This section will not be enabled when creating a Deposit fee.
• Click the Create icon drop-down menu and select New Rate to create a new rate line item.
• Enter the range values in the Greater Than and Through fields.
  • These values will designate the lower and upper limits of each penalty fee tier.
  • For example, a three-tier late fee might include ranges of 0 - 15 days, 15 - 30 days and 30 - 45 days. In this case, you would need to create a new rate line item for each of these ranges. The high limit a lower tier should match the low limit of the next tier.
• Check the Or Over toggle if you want the range to apply to unit values that are greater than the upper range entered in the Through field.
• Enter a Rate for the fee.
  • The Rate applies to both Percentage and Per Unit fees.
  • To create a Percentage fee, check the Percent toggle and enter the percentage to be charged by the fee in the Rate field.
    • On Penalty fees, the percentage in the Rate field will be multiplied by the past due amount.
    • When this toggle is checked, the Rate specified to the left can be edited to four decimal places. If this toggle is not checked, the Rate will be rounded to two decimal places when the fee is saved.
  • To create a Per Unit fee, check the Per Unit toggle and enter the per unit charge in the Rate field.
    • This is generally the amount you would like to charge for every unit in the range. The value in the Every field will determine how often the amount in the Rate field is charged. For example, if you want to charge $1 per day for every day a fee is overdue, you would enter a 1 in the Every field. If you are using a tier system, the rate might be $1 per day for 0 - 15 days overdue, $2 per day for 15 - 30 days overdue and $3 per day for 30 - 45 days overdue.
• Click the Save icon when complete.
• If an existing fee is edited, any applications or permits that the edited fee is attached to will not be automatically updated. If you would like to update the fee on the application or permit, you will need to remove the fee and reapply it.