County Responsibility

4.1. Equipment. -- Each county shall acquire, at its expense, the data processing equipment which is required by the Commissioner and which is to be located in each county.

4.1.1. A county may acquire the required or recommended equipment on a lease or lease/purchase basis or it may purchase the required or recommended equipment.

4.1.2. If the county does not utilize the equipment recommended and required by the Commissioner, the county assessor shall demonstrate the complete compatibility of any other equipment he or she acquires in lieu of, or in addition to that which is recommended or required for use.

4.1.3. If a county assessor later chooses to utilize other compatible equipment, the county assessor shall first either locate a buyer for the equipment to be replaced, or agree to use the equipment for other purposes and continue to be liable for the monthly payments: Provided, That if a buyer for the equipment is located, the buyer becomes responsible for the payment of any outstanding obligation on the equipment being replaced.

4.2. County personnel and other equipment. -- Each county shall provide, at its expense, the necessary staffing and operating personnel and all other communication equipment, to allow interaction with the statewide server, computer, or other device as the Tax Commissioner may designate.

4.3. County network charges. -- Each county shall be charged by the Tax Commissioner for its proportionate share of the cost for use of the network, statewide server and other related services.

4.3.1. The Tax Commissioner shall provide an estimate of fiscal year network charges by March 15 preceding the start of each fiscal year, for county budgetary purposes.

4.3.2. The Tax Commissioner shall bill each county based on the formulas in this rule: Provided, That no county=s bill may exceed the Tax commissioner=s budget estimate by more than ten percent (10%) unless the county=s usage is more than twelve percent (12%) above the previous fiscal year level and/or unless the county acquires and uses additional computers and/or printer devices after the estimate has been made.

4.3.3. The Tax Commissioner shall cause a statement to be rendered to the respective county commissions. Each county commission shall pay the total amount of the statement to the Tax Commissioner within thirty days (30) after the statement is rendered. The statement shall be composed of the following costs attributable to each county for the period specified on the statement.

4.3.3.a. Communication charges. -- Communication charges are the charges attributable to each county for the communication line connection between the county and the statewide server. The charge shall be based on the actual cost of the communication link for that county as billed to IS&C or the Tax Commissioner by the communication contractor (i.e., Bell Atlantic, AT&T, etc.)

4.3.3.b. Storage charges. -- Storage charges are charges for the amount of space utilized for both disk and tape storage. In effect, the counties rent disk or tape storage space for the respective number of accounts. It is an actual physical measurement. The formula for computing the storage charges for each county is composed of four elements and functions as follows:

TSC = Total Storage Cost
TPA = Total Property Tax Accounts, All Counties
CPA = County Property Tax Accounts
CSC = County Storage Cost
(CPA ) TPA) x TSC = CSC

4.3.3.c. Network charges. -- Network charges include the actual monthly network cost incurred by the Tax Commission to manage and operate the statewide routed network, the statewide server hardware, and the statewide server operating system. The charge to each county is based on the number of accounts in each county. An account is one entry on the land books or one entry on the personal property books. The number of accounts used for the billing is the number of accounts within each county at the time the estimate was made for the annual fiscal year network charges. The formula for computing the network charges for each county is composed of four (4) elements and function as follows:

TNC = Total Network Charges
TPA = Total Property Tax Accounts, All Counties
CPA = County Property Tax Accounts
CNC = County Network Share Charge
(CPA ) TPA) x TNC = CNC

4.3.3.d. System support charges. The system support charges are composed of the following:

4.3.3.d.1. Licensing and support charges. The charge for licensing and support is the amount invoiced to and paid by the Tax Commissioner for licensing and support. The charge is based on the number of devices in the county utilizing the statewide network. The charge to each county is the actual cost and is determined by multiplying the per device charge by the number of devices that use the network in that county. The Tax Commission pays licensing and support charges for those devices used by the Tax Commissioner.

4.3.3.d.2. Reports, training, system testing and valuation guides. -- These costs are for processing reports required of the Tax Commissioner by statute for the determination of market conditions in each county, for system testing, for the training of county personnel, for the cost of acquiring guides for valuation purposes for property such as vehicles, boats, manufactured housing, etc. The formula for computing this charge functions as follows:

TRTTVC = Total Reports, Training, Testing and Valuation Charges
TPA = Total Property Tax Accounts
CPA = County Property Tax Accounts
CRTTVC = County Reports, Training, Testing and Valuation Share Charge
(CPA ) TPA) x TRTTVC = CRTTVC
4.3.3.d.3. Dedicated personnel. -- Each county shall pay a Base Personnel Charge of 10% of the actual total cost of the dedicated State Tax Commission personnel necessary to keep the system operational, with the Base Personnel Charge being equal to each county=s proportionate share of the accounts on the network. In addition to the base charge, each county that chooses to use the statewide server as its primary server and on which its county data and system applications reside and are updated on-line shall be assessed a surcharge above the base charge for additional dedicated personnel costs associated with programming, daily system maintenance and operation. The charge for each county is calculated as follows:

CPA = County Individual Property Tax Accounts
TPA = Total Tax Accounts, All Counties
TPC = Total State Tax Commission Personnel Charges
BPC = Base State Tax Commission Personnel Charges
TPW = Total Property Tax Accounts, Counties w/o server
CPS = County Personnel Share Surcharge
SPC = Surcharge Personnel Charges, Counties w/o server
CPC = County Base Personnel Charge
TPC x 10% = BPC
(CPA ) TPA) x BPC = CPC
TPC - BPC = SPC
(CPA ) TPW) x SPC = CPS
CPC + CPS = Total Dedicated Personnel Charges For County

Programming changes resulting from changes in the law shall be provided to those counties whose data and applications reside on their county server. However, each county is responsible for further modification and installation and shall be billed for proportionate share costs of dedicated personnel costs to develop the programming changes. The proportionate share costs is to be used to reimburse the County Tax Fund.

4.3.3.e. Printing charges. -- The printing charge is the cost of the printing for each county by IS & C. The actual cost, as determined by IS & C, is passed to each county.

4.3.3.f. Miscellaneous charges. -- The miscellaneous charges are the cost for communication change requests, data processing supplies such as the cost for computer paper used in county assessor=s printers, land book and personal property book sheets, cable and installation, training, and shipping charges, etc. The miscellaneous charge is the amount invoiced to and paid by the Tax Commission.

4.3.4. The payments referred to in paragraph 4.3.3. of this section shall, upon receipt by the State, be deposited in the State Treasury into a revolving fund known as the ACounty Tax Fund.@