How to Format Assessor Data into iGov for Property Tax

In this article you will learn how to correctly format the data from your assessor into our import file. This process will make your data properly import into iGov. Why do this? You cannot simply import what you are given from your assessor. The fields and formatting are important for imports. This process tells the system exactly what goes where.

Prep

-Getting the new assessment data from your assessor is always the first step. When you get the data download our import sample file by clicking here.

-Keep our data dictionary on standby throughout this entire process. The data dictionary is out tool to help users know what each field is for, and if they are required fields. Click here for our data dictionary.

Important things to remember

-When you are entereing data into a field, the header must match EXACTLY what we have in our data dictionary. For example: one of the required fields is TAX_YEAR. This must be how it is entered on the file you plan on importing. Tax_Year, TaxYear, and TAXYEAR all will not import properly because it does not match our field header exactly.

-You do not have to enter information into every single field. Only the fields that have 'Y' in the Required box.

-It may be essier to just copy and past the columns you need into a blank spreadsheet and edit the headers as you go. That way you aren't looking through the 400 headers on our sample file trying to find the header you need.

-Formatting is very important. '$' signs, commas, and any other special character cannot be in the data. Use the 'Data Type' column in the data dictionary to know what format any columns formatting should be in your spreadsheet and how many characters are allowed.

Match the assessors data to our fields

This step is self explanatory, but does take some understanding to get right. Take a look at the below example:

This example shows only a handful for fields that would be in what we call the assessors raw data. Ask yourself these questions:

What fields here match what is in the data dictionary?

What is here that is required?

By looking at our data dictonary we can start matching some of this data. For example PIDN is a required field. This data shows a PARID number that also seconds as a PIDN. 

Click the 'B' cell and notice that it highlights the entire column. Copy and past the column into the PIDN column of our sample file. Remember - if you past the column header you will need to change the field name to match ours exactly, which is PIDN.

Lets look at a field that may not be necessary, but you would like it in your import data. OWN1 has the names of various owners of a property. Looking at the data dictionary we can see that OWNER_NAME matched this field. Click cell 'D' to highlight the entire column and copy and past into your spreadsheet. Remember to change your header.