NEW YORK STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

Date:

To:

From:

 

June 2009

School District Superintendents and State Aid Designees

Andrea Hyary, Bureau Chief, Office of State Aid
Carl Thurnau, Director of Facilities Planning

Guidance re: Submitting Final Cost Reports for EXCEL projects,
EXCEL Final Total Cost Check and EXCEL Overpayments

Overview

The EXCEL statute provides that total Building Aid apportionments excluding assumed interest payments, plus the EXCEL grant, shall not exceed total project costs. After the final cost report (FCR) has been approved by the Office of Facilities Planning, the State Aid Office will determine whether the combination of Building Aid and EXCEL disbursements exceeds the final total project cost. If the total project cost has been exceeded, the excess will be deducted from the district’s General Aid.

The total cost check will be initiated when the district submits the FCR to Facilities Planning, but not until DASNY has disbursed the full EXCEL amount the district plans to claim. Districts are requested to wait to submit the FCR to SED until final disbursement has been made by DASNY to the district. However, the final cost report MUST be submitted on time*. Therefore, districts should request an FCR waiver extension from Facilities Planning for FCRs for EXCEL projects for which the full disbursement has not been received in time to submit the FCR by the deadline.

An EXCEL project for which the final cost report is submitted late, and for which an extension has not been requested from Facilities Planning, will lose all Building Aid AND all EXCEL aid. 

The certified EXCEL grant for a project cannot be increased or decreased based on finalized project cost data, nor can unused certified EXCEL funds for one project be transferred to other projects.

 

Submitting Final Cost Reports for EXCEL Projects

FCR processing for EXCEL projects includes reconciliation of the following three amounts:

Certified Amount:  the SA-139 amount approved by SED for certification to DASNY. Once certified by SED, this amount will not change

Final Disbursed Amount:  The final total paid to the district by DASNY, reported by DASNY to SED

Expended Amount: The EXCEL amount reported by the district on page 21 of the FCR

To facilitate processing of FCRs and the total cost check for EXCEL projects, SED is requesting that districts comply with the following reporting guidelines:

• The expended amount reported on page 21 of the FCR should equal the final disbursed amount. Districts are requested to wait to submit FCRs for EXCEL projects until their final EXCEL payment has been received from DASNY, except if delaying FCR submission will cause the FCR to be received after the submission deadline. Districts should request an FCR waiver extension from Facilities Planning for FCRs for projects for which the full EXCEL disbursement has not been received in time to submit the FCR by the deadline.

• The expended amount reported on page 21 of the FCR must be less than or equal to the certified amount; the expended amount can be less than the certified amount if the district did not use the full amount certified by SED or if DASNY did not approve the full certified amount for payment.

• On the new page 21 of the FCR, the district must certify by signature that the EXCEL amount entered is the final and total amount disbursed by DASNY. If this amount is less than the certified amount, the district is informing SED that it does not intend to draw down the full certified amount from DASNY for this project. This certification to SED must be made on the FCR before the FCR can be fully processed.

Districts will be contacted by SED staff if there are discrepancies in the three EXCEL amounts listed above which prevent the FCR from being processed.

 

Total Cost Check Calculation for EXCEL projects

• Prior to certification to DASNY, the State Aid Office calculated estimated total Building Aid over the life of the project in order to determine the maximum EXCEL amount for which each EXCEL project initially qualified;

• To conduct the EXCEL total cost check, the State Aid office will re-calculate the estimated total Building Aid over the life of the project using the final approved project cost and the same aid ratio that was used to calculate the initial total Building Aid estimate;

• An EXCEL overpayment will occur if the final total Building Aid plus the final disbursed EXCEL amount exceeds the total project cost;

• The existing ESTIMATE OF EXCEL ALLOWANCES: PROJECT LEVEL report has been revised to include final disbursement information and overpayment calculation by project. Districts can now view the total cost check calculation on this report.

• EXCEL overpayments will be displayed on the Building Aid Summary output report (SBA) and on the front page of the General Aid output report (GEN).

 

EXCEL Project Information Available to Districts

Three State Aid reports are available with information on the EXCEL total cost check and EXCEL overpayments for a district’s EXCEL projects:

• Estimate of EXCEL Allowances: project level: this report has been revised to include final disbursement information and overpayment calculation by project. Districts receive this report from SED in the mail included with their SA-4/SA-130 paper.

• District Level EXCEL Cover sheet:  provides reconciliation information by project for all the district’s EXCEL projects including the DASNY disbursed to date amount, the EXCEL overpayment amount and aid year the overpayment will be deducted where applicable. To view this report, go to the Important Information about Building Aid section of the district’s output report page accessed via the State Aid Homepage.

• State Aid Building Summary Aid Report (BLD-SBA): EXCEL overpayment deduction based on final cost report: shows total EXCEL overpayment amount to date to be deducted during the aid year represented by the report. The total overpayment amount may include multiple EXCEL projects with overpayments in that aid year. Districts should refer to the District Level EXCEL Cover Sheet noted above for the breakout of projects making up the total overpayment for a particular year. To view this report: Go to the State Aid Claim Reports section of the district’s output reports page accessed via the State Aid homepage.

• Districts are strongly encouraged to contact the State Aid Office with any questions about the total cost check, or the Office of Facilities Planning with any questions about completing the FCR for EXCEL projects.

Contact Information:
Assigned Fiscal Associate Office of Facilities Planning, 518 -474-3906

State Aid Office, Building Aid Unit, 518-474-2977, OMSSAMS@nysed.gov

Dormitory of the State of New York, 518-257-3777, apgrants@dasny.org