Tax Accountability System Specification

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Tax Accountability System

Recover Public Funds. Return Public Value.

Specification

Tax Accountability System is a modular specification for transparent, government-controlled property tax recovery, statutory redemption, foreclosure, tax forfeiture, public property disposition, financial accountability, and equal township-wide homestead rebates.

The specification is designed to ensure that delinquent property taxes remain a government-administered public obligation rather than becoming an investment product for private tax-lien investors. The system provides a transparent process beginning with tax delinquency and continuing through redemption, foreclosure, government forfeiture, property sale, expense accounting, excess-proceeds calculation, and equal public distribution.

The system is designed for government entities, municipalities, townships, counties, and other jurisdictions seeking an accountable framework for administering delinquent property taxes and forfeited properties.

Core Principles

Government-controlled tax recovery
No sale of delinquent tax liens to private investors
Public accountability
Public transparency
Modular architecture
Mandatory due process
60-day delinquency threshold
24-month statutory redemption period
Government-controlled foreclosure and forfeiture
Complete property-level financial accounting
Transparent property sales
Transparent property expenses
Transparent excess-proceeds accounting
Equal township-wide public benefit
Primary-home equality
Human oversight of automated systems
Auditable government action
Privacy-conscious public records
Open and machine-readable public information

Core Modules

Tax Delinquency Module

The Tax Delinquency Module manages property tax obligations and determines when a property enters formal delinquency.

Features include:

Tax obligation registration
Tax billing records
Tax due-date tracking
Payment status tracking
60-day grace-period tracking
Formal delinquency date calculation
Formal delinquency status creation after more than 60 days past due
Property-level delinquency tracking
First delinquency tracking
Second delinquency tracking
Third delinquency tracking
Historical delinquency records
Delinquency resolution tracking
Payment recording
Partial-payment recording
Full-payment recording
Redemption recording
Delinquency cancellation
Foreclosure eligibility calculation

Delinquency Notice Module

The Delinquency Notice Module manages required notifications when a property enters formal delinquency and throughout the redemption and foreclosure process.

Features include:

Automated delinquency notices
Formal delinquency notices
Redemption-period notices
Periodic delinquency notices
Final redemption notices
Foreclosure notices
Forfeiture notices
Notice generation
Notice delivery tracking
Notice publication
Notice delivery confirmation
Failed-delivery tracking
Notice history
Notice timestamping
Public notice verification
Required notice sequencing
Notice compliance validation

Public Delinquency Registry Module

The Public Delinquency Registry Module maintains a publicly accessible record of properties that have entered formal delinquency.

The registry must be freely viewable by the public and must not require an account for basic public access.

Features include:

Public online delinquency registry
Free public access
Property address search
Parcel number search
Tax account search
Jurisdiction search
Delinquency status search
Original tax due date
Formal delinquency date
Redemption commencement date
Redemption expiration date
Remaining redemption period
Delinquent tax balance
Authorized fees
Notice history
Redemption status
Foreclosure eligibility status
Foreclosure status
Forfeiture status
Government ownership status
Property disposition status
Public property timeline
Historical status records
Downloadable public records
Machine-readable records
Public API
Registry update timestamps
Registry audit history

Statutory Redemption Module

The Statutory Redemption Module establishes and administers the mandatory redemption period.

The redemption period begins when a property remains unpaid for more than 60 days after the applicable tax payment due date.

The statutory redemption period must be 24 months.

Features include:

Mandatory 24-month statutory redemption period
Redemption period beginning after the 60-day delinquency threshold
Redemption commencement tracking
Redemption expiration tracking
Remaining-time calculation
Owner redemption payments
Partial-payment tracking
Full redemption processing
Redemption confirmation
Redemption receipts
Redemption status publication
Automatic redemption deadline calculation
Automatic foreclosure eligibility calculation
Prevention of premature foreclosure
Redemption audit trail

Foreclosure must not begin before the statutory redemption period has expired and all required notice and due-process requirements have been satisfied.

Interest Management Module

The Interest Management Module establishes the rules governing interest on delinquent property taxes.

The system must not impose interest during the first or second delinquency.

Interest may become permissible when the same property reaches a third separate delinquency, subject to applicable law and the rules established by the jurisdiction implementing the specification.

Features include:

No interest on first delinquency
No interest on second delinquency
Third-delinquency detection
Separate delinquency occurrence tracking
Third-delinquency interest activation
Prospective interest calculation
Interest-rate tracking
Interest accrual tracking
Interest accounting
Interest payment tracking
Interest disclosure
No retroactive interest on first delinquency
No retroactive interest on second delinquency
Interest audit trail
Interest earned on retained proceeds tracking

Notice & Due Process Module

The Notice & Due Process Module verifies that all legally required procedures have been completed before foreclosure or forfeiture.

Features include:

Statutory notice management
Due-process verification
Notice sequencing
Notice deadline tracking
Administrative review
Owner response tracking
Appeal tracking
Hearing management
Evidence management
Dispute resolution
Foreclosure holds
Forfeiture holds
Procedural compliance verification
Due-process audit trail

Payment & Redemption Module

The Payment & Redemption Module manages payments made to resolve delinquent property taxes and redeem properties.

Features include:

Electronic payment support
Government payment processing
Payment receipt generation
Payment allocation
Payment history
Partial-payment tracking
Full-payment tracking
Payment reconciliation
Returned-payment tracking
Payment correction
Redemption balance calculation
Redemption status
Payment audit trail

Foreclosure Eligibility Module

The Foreclosure Eligibility Module determines whether a property has satisfied every prerequisite for foreclosure.

Features include:

24-month redemption verification
Delinquency verification
Notice-completion verification
Due-process verification
Payment-status verification
Appeal-status verification
Property-status verification
Foreclosure eligibility calculation
Eligibility timestamp
Foreclosure hold detection
Automated eligibility audit
Human authorization requirement
Public foreclosure eligibility status

Government Foreclosure Module

The Government Foreclosure Module administers foreclosure proceedings after all eligibility requirements have been satisfied.

Features include:

Foreclosure case creation
Foreclosure case management
Foreclosure filing tracking
Court proceeding tracking
Judgment tracking
Foreclosure completion
Government title acquisition
Title transfer recording
Foreclosure status publication
Foreclosure documentation
Foreclosure audit trail

Tax Forfeiture Module

The Tax Forfeiture Module manages government acquisition and administration of properties following successful foreclosure.

Features include:

Government acquisition of forfeited property
Tax-forfeiture designation
Forfeiture status tracking
Government property inventory
Government ownership records
Title tracking
Property condition assessment
Property maintenance tracking
Property preservation
Property security
Property disposition authorization
Public forfeiture records
Forfeiture audit trail

Primary Residence & Citizenship Module

The Primary Residence & Citizenship Module manages eligibility requirements for residential properties disposed of under the specification.

Residential forfeited properties designated for residential disposition may only be sold as primary residences to verified U.S. citizens, subject to applicable federal and state law.

Features include:

Primary-residence definition
Primary-residence verification
Buyer identity verification
U.S. citizenship verification
Citizenship verification before closing
Primary-residence certification
Buyer occupancy certification
Ownership verification
Closing eligibility determination
Primary-residence compliance monitoring
Fraud prevention
Duplicate ownership detection
Verification audit trail
Privacy-protected verification records
Government-only access to sensitive verification information
Public non-sensitive verification status
Post-sale occupancy verification

Sensitive citizenship and identity documentation must not be exposed through the public registry.

Property Disposition Module

The Property Disposition Module governs the disposition of government-owned forfeited residential properties.

Residential properties subject to the primary-residence disposition requirements must be sold only for use as primary residences to verified U.S. citizens, subject to applicable law.

Features include:

Primary-residence-only residential sales
Primary-residence buyer requirement
Verified U.S. citizen purchaser requirement
Buyer identity verification
Citizenship verification
Primary-residence declaration
Occupancy commitment
Pre-closing eligibility verification
Closing eligibility enforcement
Investor purchase prohibition
Rental-only purchase prohibition
Vacation-home purchase prohibition
Second-home purchase prohibition
Speculative acquisition prohibition
Short-term rental restriction
Post-sale occupancy monitoring
Primary-residence compliance monitoring
Disposition eligibility enforcement
Government transfer restrictions
Public disposition records

Property Sale Transparency Module

The Property Sale Transparency Module requires complete public disclosure of the financial terms and material records associated with the sale of a forfeited property.

Features include:

Public property sale listing
Public sale date
Public sale method
Public sale terms
Public final home sale price
Public winning bid
Public bid history
Public number of bids
Public buyer classification
Public transfer price
Pre-sale valuation
Appraisal records
Property condition records
Sale documentation
Closing documentation
Transfer documentation
Post-sale accounting
Sale audit trail

Property Expense Transparency Module

The Property Expense Transparency Module requires every expense charged against a forfeited property or deducted from its sale proceeds to be documented and publicly disclosed.

Features include:

Complete property expense tracking
Itemized expense disclosure
Legal expense disclosure
Foreclosure expense disclosure
Court-cost disclosure
Recording-fee disclosure
Title expense disclosure
Property maintenance disclosure
Property preservation disclosure
Inspection expense disclosure
Utility expense disclosure
Insurance expense disclosure
Repair expense disclosure
Cleaning expense disclosure
Landscaping expense disclosure
Security expense disclosure
Property management expense disclosure
Auction expense disclosure
Marketing expense disclosure
Commission disclosure
Transfer expense disclosure
Closing expense disclosure
Government administrative expense disclosure
Other authorized expense disclosure

No undocumented, unclassified, or undisclosed expense may be deducted from property-sale proceeds.

Expense Documentation Module

The Expense Documentation Module establishes the documentation requirements for every property expense.

Features include:

Expense category
Expense amount
Expense date
Vendor identification
Government department identification
Service description
Property association
Authorization record
Payment date
Payment method
Invoice documentation
Contract documentation
Supporting documentation
Legal-recoverability designation
Public expense record
Expense audit trail
Expense reconciliation
No undocumented deductions
No unclassified expenses
No undisclosed expenses

Property Financial Ledger Module

The Property Financial Ledger Module maintains a complete financial record for each property.

Features include:

Property-level financial ledger
Tax liability ledger
Payment ledger
Fee ledger
Interest ledger
Expense ledger
Sale proceeds ledger
Excess proceeds ledger
Rebate allocation ledger
Transaction timestamps
Transaction identifiers
Source documentation
Automated reconciliation
Ledger audit trail
Public financial summary
Authorized detailed public records

Excess Proceeds Module

The Excess Proceeds Module determines the amount remaining after a forfeited property is sold and all legally authorized obligations and documented expenses have been satisfied.

Eligible excess proceeds may include:

Surplus property-sale proceeds
Interest earned on retained excess proceeds
Other legally distributable earnings associated with the proceeds

The module must provide a complete accounting showing:

Gross property sale proceeds
Delinquent tax recovery
Authorized costs
Documented property expenses
Interest earned
Net distributable excess proceeds

Features include:

Gross property sale proceeds calculation
Delinquent-tax recovery calculation
Authorized-cost calculation
Property-expense calculation
Interest-earned calculation
Net proceeds calculation
Excess-proceeds determination
Township-wide excess-proceeds pool
Public excess-proceeds accounting
Property-level reconciliation
Sale-to-rebate traceability
Complete proceeds audit trail
No undisclosed deductions
No diversion of eligible excess proceeds

Homestead Rebate Module

The Homestead Rebate Module distributes eligible excess proceeds equally among all primary homes within the township.

Primary-home ownership is the sole eligibility criterion.

There are no additional qualification requirements based on:

Property size
Lot size
Property value
Assessed value
Market value
Household size
Household income
Age
Disability status
Tax liability
Amount of taxes previously paid
Mortgage status
Length of ownership
Neighborhood
Any other socioeconomic or property characteristic

Features include:

Township-wide rebate pool
Primary-home ownership registry
Primary-home identification
Equal-share calculation
One equal share per primary home
Equal rebate amount
Automated rebate calculation
Rebate payment processing
Rebate payment tracking
Distribution reconciliation
Public aggregate rebate reporting
Rebate audit trail

Equal Distribution Rules Module

The Equal Distribution Rules Module enforces equal treatment of all primary homes.

The distribution formula is:

Total Distributable Excess Proceeds divided by Total Primary Homes equals Equal Primary Home Rebate

Features include:

Equal distribution
One equal share per primary home
Primary-home ownership as the sole rebate eligibility criterion
No property-size-based allocation
No lot-size-based allocation
No assessed-value-based allocation
No market-value-based allocation
No household-size-based allocation
No income-based allocation
No age-based allocation
No disability-based allocation
No neighborhood-based allocation
No tax-payment-based allocation
No mortgage-based allocation
No length-of-ownership-based allocation
No socioeconomic allocation
No discretionary allocation
No preferential allocation
No variable rebate formula

AI Excess-Proceeds Engine Module

The AI Excess-Proceeds Engine supports administrative verification and mathematical distribution of the township-wide rebate pool.

The AI must operate under government-defined rules and must not create independent eligibility standards.

Features include:

Automated primary-home count
Primary-home ownership verification
Equal-share calculation
One-share-per-primary-home enforcement
Duplicate detection
Data validation
Distribution reconciliation
Mathematical verification
Automated error detection
Reproducible calculations
Calculation audit trail
Distribution simulation
Exception reporting
Human review controls
Rule-based AI constraints

AI Governance Module

The AI Governance Module establishes controls over all AI-assisted functions.

Features include:

Government-defined rules
Deterministic allocation requirements
Human oversight
AI activity logging
Calculation explainability
Reproducible outputs
Audit records
Error detection
Exception reporting
No autonomous policy creation
No autonomous eligibility expansion
No autonomous eligibility restriction
No income-based decision-making
No property-value-based decision-making
No property-size-based decision-making
No variable rebate calculations
Equal-treatment enforcement

Financial Transparency Module

The Financial Transparency Module provides public visibility into the complete financial lifecycle of each forfeited property.

Features include:

Public gross sale price
Public itemized expenses
Public recovered tax amount
Public authorized costs
Public interest amounts
Public interest earnings
Public excess-proceeds amount
Public rebate-pool amount
Public equal-rebate amount
Public distribution totals
Vendor payment disclosure
Government expense disclosure
Transaction timestamps
Supporting documentation
Public financial reconciliation
Property-level financial reporting
Township-wide financial reporting
No undisclosed deductions

Public Transparency Module

The Public Transparency Module provides public access to records and information generated by the system.

Features include:

Public delinquency records
Public redemption records
Public foreclosure records
Public forfeiture records
Public government property inventory
Public sale records
Public sale prices
Public bid information
Public property expenses
Public proceeds calculations
Public interest calculations
Public excess-proceeds calculations
Public rebate calculations
Public aggregate rebate distributions
Public audit records
Public transaction histories
Open data exports
Machine-readable datasets
Public API
Transparency dashboard

Audit & Records Module

The Audit & Records Module maintains a complete historical record of system activity.

Features include:

Complete property history
Complete delinquency history
Complete payment history
Complete notice history
Complete redemption history
Complete foreclosure history
Complete forfeiture history
Complete expense history
Complete sale history
Complete proceeds history
Complete rebate history
Complete AI calculation history
Immutable or tamper-evident records
Records retention
Public verification tools
Administrative audit tools
Historical version tracking

Reporting Module

The Reporting Module generates standardized government and public accountability reports.

Features include:

Delinquency reports
Redemption reports
Foreclosure reports
Forfeiture reports
Property inventory reports
Property disposition reports
Property sale reports
Property expense reports
Interest reports
Excess-proceeds reports
Homestead rebate reports
Township financial reports
Public transparency reports
AI calculation reports
Audit reports
Annual accountability reports

Public Data & API Module

The Public Data & API Module provides structured access to public system information.

Features include:

Public data portal
Open data exports
Machine-readable records
Property-level data access
Delinquency data access
Sale data access
Expense data access
Proceeds data access
Rebate data access
Statistical data access
Public read-only API
API documentation
Data versioning
Data integrity verification

Security & Privacy Module

The Security & Privacy Module protects administrative records and sensitive personal information while maintaining public transparency.

Features include:

Role-based access control
Government administrative authentication
Sensitive-record protection
Identity-data protection
Citizenship-record protection
Encryption
Secure document storage
Audit logging
Data integrity controls
Fraud detection
Unauthorized-change detection
Public/private data separation
Privacy-preserving public records
Sensitive information access controls

Optional Plugin Modules

The modular architecture may support optional plugins that extend functionality without altering the core accountability requirements.

Payment Plan Plugin

Structured payment plans
Payment-plan eligibility
Payment schedules
Payment compliance tracking
Payment-plan status
Automatic delinquency updates

Hardship Assistance Plugin

Hardship application management
Government assistance programs
Temporary foreclosure holds
Assistance status tracking
Resolution tracking

Appeals Plugin

Administrative appeals
Appeal filing
Evidence submission
Hearing scheduling
Decision tracking
Appeal audit records

Tax Exemption Integration Plugin

Tax exemption data integration
Homestead exemption integration
Exemption status verification
Government tax-record synchronization

GIS & Mapping Plugin

Property mapping
Delinquency mapping
Foreclosure mapping
Forfeiture mapping
Government property mapping
Public transparency maps

Property Rehabilitation Plugin

Property rehabilitation planning
Repair management
Contractor tracking
Rehabilitation expenses
Property condition improvements
Rehabilitation audit records

Land Bank Integration Plugin

Land bank transfers
Land bank inventory synchronization
Property disposition tracking
Community development integration

Public Housing Integration Plugin

Public housing transfers
Affordable housing disposition
Housing development integration
Public housing inventory

Automated Notification Plugin

Email notifications
SMS notifications
Public alerts
Deadline reminders
Status-change notifications

Intergovernmental Data Exchange Plugin

County integration
Township integration
Municipal integration
State integration
Tax-record synchronization
Property-record synchronization

Document Management Plugin

Electronic document storage
Document indexing
Document versioning
Document retrieval
Public document publishing
Records retention integration

Electronic Payment Plugin

Online tax payments
Electronic redemption payments
Payment receipts
Payment reconciliation
Secure payment processing

Analytics & Forecasting Plugin

Delinquency analytics
Redemption forecasting
Foreclosure forecasting
Forfeiture forecasting
Revenue forecasting
Excess-proceeds forecasting
Township rebate forecasting

Open Data Plugin

Open datasets
Bulk data exports
Data catalogs
Dataset versioning
Public data feeds
Open-data documentation

Mobile Access Plugin

Mobile public registry
Mobile delinquency search
Mobile property status
Mobile notifications
Mobile public reporting

Multilingual Public Access Plugin

Multilingual registry
Multilingual notices
Multilingual public records
Language selection
Accessible government information

Community Development Plugin

Community property disposition
Community development projects
Public-use property transfers
Neighborhood redevelopment tracking

Housing Preservation Plugin

Primary-home preservation
Residential rehabilitation
Owner occupancy monitoring
Housing preservation programs
Community housing initiatives

External Records Integration Plugin

Government records integration
Property records integration
Ownership records integration
Public records synchronization
External data validation

System Requirements

Implementations conforming to this specification should:

Preserve the modular architecture
Implement all required core modules
Preserve the 60-day formal delinquency threshold
Preserve the 24-month statutory redemption period
Prevent premature foreclosure
Maintain a publicly viewable delinquency registry
Maintain complete financial records
Publicly disclose property sale prices
Publicly disclose itemized property expenses
Prevent undocumented deductions
Maintain transparent excess-proceeds calculations
Distribute eligible excess proceeds equally among primary homes
Preserve the equal-distribution requirements
Maintain auditable records
Apply AI only within defined governance controls
Protect sensitive personal information
Preserve applicable due-process requirements
Maintain AGPL-3.0+ compliance

Compliance & Extensibility

The specification is designed to be jurisdiction-aware and extensible. Implementations may incorporate additional statutory requirements, government procedures, reporting requirements, or public programs provided that those additions do not undermine the core transparency, accountability, redemption, financial disclosure, equal-distribution, and auditability requirements of the specification.

Optional plugins may extend the capabilities of an implementation without requiring changes to the core modules. Plugins must not be used to circumvent required public records, the statutory redemption period, financial transparency, equal distribution of eligible excess proceeds, or required due-process protections.

Specification Branding License (SBL)

Standard

Fully AGPL-3.0+ compliant system
Copyleft enforced for network deployments
Required attribution:
- Roxanne Ardary
- https://www.roxanneardary.com/

Optional

Specification Branding License (SBL)
- Attribution-free commercial deployment
- Pricing based on scale, usage, and deployment scope

License & Notice Requirements

Tax Accountability System is released under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 or later (AGPL-3.0+).

By contributing to any Open Arsenal project, you agree that your contributions will also be released under this license.

Please note the following:

All contributions must comply with the AGPL-3.0+ terms.
Under Section 7 of the license, all redistributions, forks, and derivative works must preserve attribution to: Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com.
Tax Accountability System specifications are free to use with attribution. A Specification Branding License can be negotiated upon request.
The project’s notice.md file tracks attribution requirements and contributor acknowledgments. Any update that adds new contributors or modifies attribution should also update notice.md.
When submitting a pull request, ensure that any new files maintain the attribution headers where applicable.
Network-deployed versions of this software must also remain fully AGPL-3.0+ compliant, including exposure of source code modifications when applicable under the license.

For full legal details, please refer to the AGPL-3.0+ license and the project’s notice.md file.

Notice – Tax Accountability System

Attribution Requirement: Under Section 7 of the AGPL 3.0+ license, all redistributions, forks, and derivative works, including network-deployed versions of this project, must provide attribution to Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com.

Contributors

This file tracks contributors and their specific contributions to the project.

Roxanne Ardary, roxanneardary.com – August 28, 2026
Created the repository for Tax Accountability System. Developed the modular specification for transparent property tax recovery, statutory redemption, government tax forfeiture, public property disposition, financial accountability, and equal township-wide homestead rebates.
[Add other contributors here] – [Date]
[Describe contribution in one sentence]

License – Tax Accountability System

This repository is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 or later (AGPL-3.0+).

Key Points

You are free to use, modify, and distribute the code.
All redistributions, forks, and derivative works or network-deployed versions must also be licensed under AGPL-3.0+ and provide attribution to Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com as required under Section 7 of the license.
The software is provided “as is,” without warranty of any kind.

For the full license text, see GNU AGPL-3.0 License.