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October, 2000

Support for Initiative 722

Bellevue, WA - October 16, 2000 – ASIX, Inc. announced today that its Ascend™ property tax management software is able to support proposed changes in assessed value, levy, and tax calculations envisioned by Initiative 722, without costly redevelopment efforts.

“Despite numerous questions about the meaning and implementation of Initiative 722, our research indicates that the architecture of Ascend™ will enable customers to modify their software to meet the requirements of the initiative without reprogramming,” said Steve Hendricks, Ascend Practice Director.

“Sections of Initiative 722 place new limits on both increases in levies and the taxable value of real estate. Fortunately, such changes were anticipated in the architecture of Ascend™ as it was extended to support property tax regimens in Oregon, Missouri, Illinois, and other states”.

“A two percent limit in levy increases, for example, would replace the current six percent limit. Ascend’s™ flexibility in defining this type of limit means that counties can simply modify a system parameter to support the change. Likewise, the repeal of taxing districts’ ‘levy capacity protection’ would require a simple change in Ascend’s™ levy calculation algorithm implemented directly by qualified users without having to reprogram the application”.

“The two percent limit on increases in assessed value contained in the initiative raises more questions about its implementation,” said Hendricks. “It is unclear whether the limit should be interpreted as a limit on the value of property or as an ‘exemption,’ as presented in the initiative. Fortunately, Ascend™ is designed to support either interpretation. User-defined business rules can be tailored to support such changes. In fact, similar rules are already in effect in the state of Oregon where two counties currently use Ascend™.”

Hendricks stressed that numerous questions remain about the implementation of Initiative 722 should it pass in November.

“There are a number of issues surrounding the constitutionality of the initiative. Furthermore, the initiative’s requirement that counties ‘refund’ tax increases imposed in 1999 would call for major processing efforts on the part of all counties. The ‘good news’ for Ascend™ customers is that the tools to implement the initiative’s requirements are already in place. While some Washington counties may face significant reprogramming tasks to cope with the changes envisioned by Initiative 722, Ascend™ customers will be prepared to tailor their systems to satisfy its requirements”, said Hendricks.