State aid Payment Procedures and Local Accounting and Reporting Procedures for RESCUE
(Rebuilding Schools to Uphold Education)

1. APPLICATION PROCEDURES: School districts must obtain the approval of the State Education Department’s Facilities Planning Unit for the use of RESCUE Aid to fund eligible school construction or reconstruction projects.
   
• For use of RESCUE Aid to fund projects that have already been approved by the Commissioner, school districts should submit a "Request for Revision of Financial Information Form" (FPFI) to the Facilities Planning Unit. The amount of RESCUE Aid allocated to the district that will be used to fund the project should be listed as "Other Funds" on this form, and the district should indicate in a cover letter that these funds are part or all of the RESCUE Aid allotment to the district.
  
• For use of RESCUE Aid to fund projects that have not yet been approved by the Commissioner, school districts should include an explanation of the amount of RESCUE Aid to be used in funding the project with the "Application for Approval of Final Plans and Specifications" for the project.
2. PAYMENT PROCEDURES: Approved RESCUE Aid will be paid to school districts after the award of a general construction contract for the school construction or reconstruction project to be funded with RESCUE Aid as approved by the Facilities Planning Unit. The actual payment will be made upon submittal of the district’s response to the "Request for Building Project Data," Form SA-139, indicating the date upon which a general contract was awarded, the contracted costs and the proposed funding for the project, including the amount of RESCUE Aid to be expended. RESCUE Aid will then be paid to the district in the ordinary course of State business and within the available State Local assistance funding for this purpose, not to exceed the lesser of: (i) the district’s total RESCUE Aid allocation, (ii) the amount of RESCUE Funding approved by the Facilities Planning Unit or (iii) the RESCUE Funding reported by the district on Form SA-139. In the event that available funding in the current State Fiscal Year is less than the RESCUE Aid payable as calculated above, any portion of the RESCUE Aid payable that is in excess of the available funding for the current State Fiscal Year will be paid in the next State Fiscal Year.

Please note, if the district has already responded to the "Request for Building Project Data," Form SA-139, prior to the decision to use RESCUE Funds in support of the project, the district does not have to resubmit a revised SA-139. The State Aid Unit will revise the original SA-139 information to include the RESCUE Funds based on the district’s Request for Revision of Financial Information (FPFI) as approved by the Facilities Planning Unit.

3. SCHOOL DISTRICT REPORTING AND ACCOUNTING PROCEDURES:
   
• Recording of RESCUE Aid Revenues Received: RESCUE Aid received by the district should be recorded as revenue to the Capital Fund as "Revenue from State Sources (Categorical)" in Revenue Account Code H3297, by both control account and by individual project for which the aid has been provided. In reporting these revenues on the school district’s Annual Financial Report, Form ST-3, an explanation should be provided indicating the amount of RESCUE Aid recorded in Account Code H3297.
• Recording of Expenditures of RESCUE Aid: RESCUE Aid should be used to support the principal costs of the school construction or reconstruction project for which the funding has been approved. School districts receiving aid under the RESCUE Program should use the grant moneys to pay a portion of the costs of the project for which the RESCUE aid apportionment was approved. Expenditures should be reported on the Annual Financial Report Form ST-3 in the appropriate control accounts (other than Account Code H2110.270, Interest) and as expenditures from "Current Funds," Account Code H522, for the specific school construction or reconstruction project funded. This may result in the reduction in the planned expenditure of funds received from the sale of obligations that the district had previously issued for the purpose of funding the project, or it may result in a reduction in the planned expenditure of funds from capital reserves or from budgetary appropriations that had previously been assigned to the project. With voter approval to increase the authorized project expenditure levels and the scope of the project, and after approval of the revision by the Facilities Planning Unit, the school district may use such excess funds to increase project expenditures. In such cases an additional "Request for Revision of Financial Information Form" (FPFI) should be submitted with the voter approved resolution to the Facilities Planning Unit for approval.