Skip to main content

Fees, waivers and payments

The Fees and payments panel on an application shows what it owes, what has been paid and what is left. It is also where you take money when the applicant is standing at the counter.

Reading the fee​

Each fee schedule belongs to a permit type, and the fee is worked out from the answers on the application. Each line in the panel shows:

  • the name of the fee, and when it is due: Due at intake, Due at approval, Due with notice or Due at renewal;
  • Assessed, the amount;
  • Paid and Due, the money recorded against that line.

A line that is not yet due shows Not yet due, so you can see what is coming. A Balance due sentence sits under the table. Open How it was worked out under any line to see the steps, so you can explain an amount to an applicant.

A fee is assessed at a set point in the application's life. A permit type that is paid at intake is assessed when the application is submitted, and one paid at approval is assessed when you record the decision. The mailed notice to abutters on a board application is assessed when the abutter list is issued. If Chiban cannot work out a fee because a number it depends on is not yet known, it says so and asks you to settle that first.

If the panel shows a balance, the Fees paid requirement on the record is Not done. The application cannot be issued until the balance is paid or that requirement is overridden.

Waive a fee or set a different amount​

Open Waive or set a fee in the panel.

  1. Pick the Fee.
  2. Under Override, choose Waive or Set an amount.
  3. For a set amount, enter the Amount in dollars.
  4. Enter the Reason. It is required.
  5. Choose Save fee override.

Chiban answers Fee override saved. It applies at the next assessment. The line then shows Waived with the original amount in parentheses, or the amount you set. A later override on the same fee replaces the earlier one, and every override is listed under the form with its reason. Only land use staff and administrators see this form.

Take a payment at the counter​

Open Take a payment. If the next step on the application is the applicant's payment, the same form is already open in Do this now.

For cash or a check:

  1. Choose the method in Paid by: Check or Cash.
  2. Check the Amount in dollars. It starts as the full balance. A smaller amount is a partial payment.
  3. For a check, enter the Check number. For cash, enter Cash tendered in dollars if you want Chiban to work out the change.
  4. Enter the Payer name.
  5. Choose Record payment.

The payment appears under Payments recorded with a Receipt link. The receipt opens in a new tab for printing. The Fees paid requirement turns to Done once the balance is zero.

By card​

Under Card at the counter, enter the Name of the person paying by card and choose Start card payment. The page states what the reader will charge, including a card fee if your town adds one, for example The reader charges $731.30: $710.00 due plus a $21.30 card fee. Present the card on the reader.

  • When the card is approved, the payment is recorded and the page refreshes.
  • When it is declined, nothing is recorded. Choose Try the card again or take another method.
  • When the outcome is unknown, the page says so. Choose Open the card payment to follow it and use Check with processor. The page tells you not to take the payment another way until the processor confirms.

If your town has not connected a card processor, the page says why card payments are not available. The demo uses a simulated reader and charges no one.

An applicant who started a card payment online may still have it open. The panel then offers Open the card payment instead of a second payment form.

What you will not see​

Refunding, reversing, correcting or moving a payment, recording a returned check and recording a chargeback sit under Refund, correct, or reverse beside each payment. That control is shown to administrators and finance staff only. If a payment was recorded on the wrong permit, ask one of them.

Counting up at the end of the day​

Payments in the menu lists every payment, and Today's cash report on Today totals the day's receipts. Both belong to the guide for finance staff. On your own Today page, Applications waiting on fees and Card payments with an unknown outcome are the two counts to clear before you close.