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program that
converts the DLS
Excel Schedule A
into a file that
can be uploaded
to Gateway. This
tool is free of
charge to all
cities and towns,
and is already
creating good will for the CSC.
As an accountant recently
wrote in an email, “You just
saved me hours of tedious
work!”
Does your city or town ac-
countant need a copy? Point
him/her to the CSC’s Cloud
site: http://csc-cloud.us/cloud/
schedule-a-download/
This project is making the CSC
very popular with municipal
Accountants
State-wide
are starting
to discover
an easier way
to submit the
Schedule A
to DLS.
Thanks to the
CSC, Gate-
way users can use a newly-
designed upload process in
tandem with DLS’s Excel-
based Schedule A to reduce
or eliminate the need to
manually enter data.
A little background: Sched-
ule A is a multi-part form
giving DLS a summary of
each community’s financial
status as of the end of the
previous fiscal year. It isn’t
easy to complete for most
municipal accountants. Late
submission can delay local aid
payments, so timely filing is
critical.
DLS and the CSC formed a
partnership in FY13 to
streamline the submission
process. The CSC funded cre-
ation of a small converter
I N S I D E
T H I S I S S U E :
New Gateway
Module—
Certification
2
Municipal
Calendar
2
CSC Hires
Executive
Director/CEO
3
New CSC
Cloud Web
Site
3
Tech tips—
Gateway Hints
for Tax Rate
Season
4
T H I S
M O N T H
CSC Launches
Schedule A
Converter
FY15 Dues
Established
Meet the
CSC’s New
Web Site
CSC Hires
Executive
Director/CEO
V O L U M E I 1 I S S U E 6
CSCCSC Connections
O C T O B E R 2 0 1 3
CO MMUNITY
SOFTWA RE
CONSORTIU M
COMMUNITY SOFTWARE CONSORTIUM
WWW.CSC-MA.US
CSC Members Approve FY2015 Dues
CSC Schedule A Converter
Launches To Rave Reviews
CSC members attending the Annual Meeting in Sturbridge on October 10, 2013 voted to approve general and tier dues amounts for fiscal 2015. After discussion of the pros and cons of various changes, members unanimously approved the dues structure proposed by the CSC Board of Directors.
General Membership dues, paid by each member commu-nity, were increased by $100 to $700 for FY15. Assessors Tier dues were also increased $100 for FY15, to $1500 per Asses-sors Tier member. Members attending the meeting agreed that a modest increase would provide extra security as Cloud
startup costs are still being determined. Members of the Collectors Tier voted to maintain their current dues level at $750 for FY15.
Please contact CSC Execu-tive Director Rebecca Krause-Hardie with ques-tions concerning FY15 dues.
P A G E 2
From the Municipal Calendar
Bills—Deadline for paying without interest
November 1 Application deadline for abatement (semi-annual tax bills if issued by Oct. 1)
November 1 Assessors begin preparing the Tax Rate Recap for quarterly and semi-annual prelimi-nary billing
November 30 New Submis-sion Deadline for Schedule A—new for FY14, the
October 1 Collector Mails Semi-Annual Tax Bills
October 1 Semi-Annual Preliminary Tax Bill — Deadline for paying without interest
October 1 Deadline for Ap-plying to Have Land Classi-fied as Ch. 61A and Ch. 61B (except in a certification year)
November 1 Semi-Annual 1st installment and Quar-terly 2nd installment Tax
submission deadline for Schedule A has changed from October 31st to No-vember 30th. Accountants are now re-quired to submit Schedule A to DLS on or before No-vember 30th. Late sub-mission of Schedule A can result in delayed distribu-tion of Local Aid. Contact your BOA Community Ad-visor for more information about submission require-ments or for assistance.
C O N N E C T I O N S
Dates to remember
in October and November
New Gateway Module—
Certification
There’s a new Gateway tab in town: Certifica-
tion. Assessors logging into Gateway have had
access to this new Gateway module since late
September. Communities in the FY14 certifica-
tion cycle will find this new module useful, as it
provides a snapshot of where things stand as
well as providing a mechanism for submitting
revised Workplans and the LA-10 form.
Contact your Bureau of Local Assessment Advi-
sor for more information about the Gateway
Certification tab. It’s part of BLA’s initiative to
make the Triennial Certification process more
transparent and easier to navigate.
CSC Hires Executive Director/CEO
P A G E 3 V O L U M E I 1 I S S U E 6
The Community Software Consorti-
um’s Board of Directors is pleased
to announce the hiring of its first
Executive Director and CEO: Rebec-
ca Krause-Hardie of Royalston, MA.
Ms. Krause-Hardie joins the CSC with over 30 years experience in municipal government, finance, technology, mar-keting and public service. In FY12 Re-becca was instrumental in securing a $290K grant for the Town of Royalston and the CSC from the State’s Commu-nity Innovation Challenge program; acting as Project Manager as well as the Cloud system’s first client, she con-tinues to work with DLS and the CSC’s Cloud vendor to refine and promote the CSC’s new Cloud-based municipal finance system.
As the owner of AudienceWorks, an organizational development and social media consulting company, she has worked with numerous clients includ-ing The New York Philharmonic, Paul Taylor Dance Company, DanceUSA, Caring.com, and the Boston Symphony among many others.
Rebecca was also Chief Financial Officer of the Criterion Collection/Voyager Publishing, where she intro-duced financial tools to control costs, predict future earnings, and helped
position it for its transition into one of the leading producers of DVD movies.
Other highlights from her unique and varied career include playing Second Horn in the Phoenix Symphony, being Orchestra Manager for the Detroit Sym-phony and Director of New Media for the League of American Orchestras, and cur-rently serving as Tax Collector for the Town of Royalston. Rebecca is also a Fire Fighter/EMT on the Royalston Fire De-
partment and the town’s IT Director.
Says David Davies, Director of IT for the Division of Local Services:
“As the CSC expands its programs and membership to achieve savings in region-alization and shared services, it is fortu-nate to have someone like Rebecca who can wear so many hats critical to building the organization beyond its current roles.”
Rebecca welcomes and encourages CSC members to contact her with ideas, com-ments and concerns. DLS wishes her all the best as she begins her leadership role with the CSC.
Rebecca Krause-Hardie
CEO Executive Director
978-575-1454
New CSC Web Site: CSC-Cloud.us
As the CSC begins to move its services to The Cloud, it
seemed like the perfect time to refresh its Web pres-
ence. Check out the CSC’s new Cloud-focused Web
site, CSC-Cloud.us!
The CSC’s existing Web site, csc-ma.us, is still live and
being actively updated. It will continue to serve the
needs of CSC members while the new site is under
construction. Certain Cloud-specific subjects and files,
like the new Schedule A Converter, are located on the
new site, with links being placed on the “old” site.
Take a look when you have a chance; it’s a work in
progress, but it already looks great!
the Bureau Of Local Assessment’s
Centrally Values Utilities section:
http://www.mass.gov/dor/local-
officials/assessor-info/centrally-
valued-utilities/
Confirming Form Submissions
When submitting each tax rate form
it’s important to really read the
screen; Gateway sometimes asks
more than one question during the
submission process, and you must
answer each one carefully. For exam-
ple: when clicking Submit on the Tax
Rate Recap, you may see this:
This is an advisory message and will
not keep you from submitting—but
you must answer No to submit anyway,
because it’s not asking if you want to sub-
mit. It’s asking if you want to go back and
correct anything. If you want to submit
anyway, answer No (I don’t want to go
back.) After answering No, you’ll see a 2nd
question:
Here it’s asking if you want to lock the data
and submit to DLS—this time you click Yes
to proceed.
Uh-Oh—I Shouldn’t Have Done That
Make a mistake in a form? Find some
missing information after you’ve already
submitted? No problem. Call your BLA,
BOA or DLS IT Advisor. DLS staff can un-
lock the form(s) and help you correct and
re-submit anything that needs fixing.
The Community Software Consortium is a self-
governing municipal organization consisting of 60+
Massachusetts communities. It was established in 1996
under M.G.L. 40, § 4A to give every member access to
quality technology products and services at a reasonable
cost, through the power of joint purchasing. In FY 2012,
the CSC was awarded a $290,700 Community Innova-
tion Challenge Grant by the Commonwealth to fund
migration of its property appraisal and tax administra-
tion software applications to The Cloud.
For more information about the Community Software
Consortium and its services, please contact the CSC’s
Executive Director and CEO, Rebecca Krause-Hardie:
(978) 575-1454
CSC-Cloud.us
Community Software Consortium
www.csc-ma.us
P.O. Box 93
Seekonk, MA 02771-0093
CSC Connections is a publication of the
Community Software Consortium, distributed
by the Division of Local Services
(413) 452-3988
Tech Tips: DLS Gateway Recap Tips
It’s that time again—Tax Rate Sea-
son. It’s always difficult to remem-
ber how to do something when you
haven’t done it for a year (at least
for some of us of a certain age…)
With that in mind, here are a few
tips and tricks that might help you
get through the tax rate process.
LA-4 505 and 506 Values
LA-4 values for centrally valued
utilities (use codes 505 and 506)
must match the values published on
the DLS Web site. Using any other
values will prevent you from suc-
cessfully submitting the LA-4. You’ll
see this error message in the Edit
List near the bottom of the page:
Where can you find the correct val-
ues? On the DLS Web site., under
C O N N E C T I O N S
Training and support provided by
The Division of Local Services’ IT Group
(617) 626-2350
