Multiple Counties Using Manatron Software are Certified by Indiana DLGF

INDIANAPOLIS, June 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Manatron, Inc., a global leader in providing integrated, property tax and assessment management solutions for state and local governments, announced that it is the first software company in Indiana to have multiple client counties utilizing property tax and assessment management software certified by the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF).

Certification is a new mandate under the Indiana Uniform Property Tax Management System administrative rule (50 IAC 23), which updated the state software standards set by the DLGF. The new rule now calls for a uniform and common property tax management system among all Indiana counties.  The rule also states that the system must include a combined mass appraisal and county auditor system that is integrated with the county treasurer system.

After its passing in July of 2006, the new law called for a two-phase approach. During phase I, all Computer Aided Mass Appraisal (CAMA) and tax vendors in the state of Indiana were to make the necessary changes to their software to comply with the new law. Manatron, the largest provider of integrated CAMA and tax software services in Indiana, serving 74 out of the state's 92 counties, was certified in 2008. Phase II of the mandate requires each individual county to have its software system tested for functionality and compatibility by an independent, third-party testing authority. Counties must complete phase II by June 30, 2010.

A total of nine counties that use Manatron's integrated CAMA and tax software have been certified under Phase II. The DLGF has officially certified Adams, Warren and Vanderburgh Counties. In addition, Benton, Gibson, Jefferson, Lawrence, Pike and Posey Counties have received verbal confirmation of certification from the DLGF.

"In order to ensure that our software was compliant and that all of our Indiana customers would receive certification under the DLGF mandates, we spent over 10,000 hours during a two-year period to assist our county customers in making the necessary changes," said Scott Stephens, vice president of Indiana operations for Manatron. "All of that hard work paid off and we are very pleased to see our customers achieving certification, some ahead of schedule."

Patrick Norton, director of information systems for Adams County agrees: "Manatron spent countless hours making sure that their software and systems met the required changes mandated by 50 IAC 23. It was a big challenge to comply with all the legislative changes, but in the end, their work was very helpful to us."

Individual counties under Phase II had additional work to complete and Norton addressed some of those challenges. "We spent a lot of time configuring the workflow between the Auditor's, Assessor's and Treasurer's office to make sure all of our data-sets matched," added Norton. "However, because all three offices [Assessor, Treasurer and Auditor] use Manatron systems, it was a lot easier to get it all integrated than other counties that must deal with different vendors with different software. In the end, we spent about 200 man-hours getting the county's systems up to speed. Because of Manatron's integration, it will be easier to comply with future legislative requirements and upgrades."

About Manatron, Inc.: Manatron, a privately held company and an investment of private equity firms Thoma Cressey Bravo, Inc. and Thoma Bravo, LLC, provides software and services for state and local governments to completely, fairly and efficiently assess real and personal property, and to bill and collect the related property taxes in their jurisdictions. Manatron's software manages the entire property life cycle, which includes deed recording, land records, CAMA, GIS (Geographic Information System) integration, valuation, assessment administration, personal property, business licenses, cashiering, tax billing and collection, delinquents and tax sales and e-government. Professional services consist of backfile conversion and redaction, disaster preparedness, data conversions, installation, training, project management, hardware maintenance, forms processing and printing, and consulting. Manatron is headquartered in Portage, Michigan and has offices throughout the United States. Manatron currently serves over 1,400 customers and manages approximately 40 million parcels.

More information about Manatron, Inc. is available at the Company's website www.manatron.com. In addition, learn more about Manatron on Facebook and Twitter.

SOURCE Manatron, Inc.