Date:
To:
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Subject:
August 10, 2023
School District State Aid Designees
BOCES District Superintendents (For Information)
Storme Sing-Wai
Bureau Chief
Release of 2023-24 State Aid Management System (SAMS), including the ST-3 Annual Financial Report
Important Changes for the 2023-24 SAMS Claim Year Reporting
Form Set A – Attendance
- Sch A1 & A3- Religious Holidays First/Second Semester
The instructions on these two formsets have been updated to provide districts with information on how to seek State Aid approval for claimed religious holidays. Districts must complete Sch A1 and A3 accordingly, but also need to email 180days@nysed.gov a board resolution approving the list of religious holidays for your district (such resolution should pre-date any days listed on Schedules A1 & A3).
- Sch A5 – Days of Session Matrix
Lines 7 and 8 have been removed, as has the header for these lines (District wide adverse weather reporting).
- Sch C- Designation of Textbook, Software, Library Materials and Hardware Expenses
Completion of this formset has not changed, but the instructions have been updated to provide districts with more clarity on how to properly complete the table on Sch C. The SAMS Help menu for this formset now provides examples for districts to reference when completing this formset.
180 Days Calendar – Attendance
- 180 Days Calendar Waiver Form
The current 900/990 hourly waiver application is only for the 2022-23SY. To be eligible for the waiver from aid penalties, superintendents must certify that the cause of the inability to meet this requirement was a result of the COVID-19 crisis, and clearly explain why the district was unable to make up the required hours.
Form Set FB – Building and Misc.
- Building Condition Survey (BCS): BCS actual and projected square footage & expenditure data should be reported on Form FB Lines 138 & 139. Please note the following restrictions:
- Only districts on SED Office of Facilities Planning 2022 and 2023 BCS assignment list and NYC can apply for 2023-24 BCS aid
- Only districts on SED Office of Facilities Planning 2023 and 2024 BCS assignment lists and NYC can report 2023-24 projections.
- Form FB Schedule W: The form for claiming aid on water testing should only include water testing expenditures in 2023-24 SAMS..
- Form FB Interest Rate Reduction Waiver Application Form: After several years of deferred implementation, the provision reducing interest rates after ten years was put in effect in 2017-18 SAMS. The information requested on this form will impact waivers for your projected and actual 2024-25 aid. Please be sure to complete this form and put in the READY state.
Form Set FT – Transportation
Bus Purchase- The Bus Purchase Ceiling Max was updated to include Zero Emission Buses with a purchase order date on or after 7/1/2022.
- Transportation Aid on Zero Emission Buses purchased or leased on or after 7/1/2022 will be amortized over 12 years (versus 5 years for non Zero Emission Buses) pursuant to Education Law section 3602(7)(e).
- Zero Emission Bus Equipment should be included in Schedule G, line 50 or 51 (projected), and will be amortized over 12 years (versus 5 years for non Zero Emission Bus Equipment). For more information, please visit the Department’s Q&A.
Form Set ST-3
All changes to the 2022-23 SAMS ST-3 can be found on the ST-3 Information page.
Below are some of the significant changes:
- To comply with the requirements of GASB 96OSC added Subscription-Based Information Technology Arrangements (SBITAs)OSC accounts for various ST-3 form sets.
- Line 453b was added to record the GASB 87 Leases which are operated by/through the BOCES
- Lines 459a (Debt Service) and 460a (School Construction) should be used for transfers that are for School Construction. Using these lines will ensure that the amounts are included in the NRT calculation
- Lines 459 (Debt Service) and 460 (School Construction) should be used for transfers that are for Other Then School Construction. Using these lines will ensure that the amounts are NOT included in the NRT calculation
- Please fill out the specify boxes in the form on which they appear
- Do not fill out the information on the edit report
- If the edit appears with all zeros then the zeros were loaded
Please note - If there is a significant delay in the receipt of the independent audit that would prevent the district from entering audited data on the ST-3 in a timely manner for the November DB, please inform the State Aid Unit what issues are outstanding, the expected date that the independent audit will be completed, and submit the unaudited ST-3 data. The data will automatically be flagged as Clean with Issues for the November DB. As soon as possible after the November DB, the district should provide an update as to when the independent audit will be completed. The claim will remain as Clean with Issues until the data has been updated with audited data and the independent audit has been submitted to NYSED’s Office of Audit Services.
Important Reminders
- If you issued debt between 7/1/22 and 6/30/23 for purchasing school buses, please complete and certify Form set F6 by September 1, 2023 even if none of your other SAMS forms are complete.
- Please check that all contact information on the SAMS entity screen is up-to-date, including extension numbers and email addresses.
Less than Eight Teacher Districts
If your district is currently classified as a "less than eight teacher" district but you anticipate the possibility of claiming State Aid and/or becoming a "major district" at any time in the near future, you should begin submitting state aid claim forms now. This is because many aid calculations depend upon data from two to three prior years.
SAMS General Instructions & Passwords
SAMS can be accessed from the State Aid Web site at http://stateaid.nysed.gov or from the main New York State Education Department home page at http://www.nysed.gov (look for the Portal Login at the upper right of this page).
Districts should use SEDDAS (State Education Department Delegated Account System) to create, disable accounts or reset passwords. For procedures for a new superintendent's account/password go to http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/sedrefupdate.htm
For detailed SAMS operating instructions/training materials go to the SAMS Information Tab on the State Aid web site. The SAMS Training Manual, Frequently Asked Questions about SAMS, "Introduction to State Aid Management System" slide show and other important tips for working in SAMS can be found there.
Certification Requirements
An electronic certification form for each form set must be completed by the Superintendent to submit State Aid claim forms. By certifying a form set, the Superintendent’s action constitutes his or her official submission of that data to SED. The electronic signature is the legal equivalent of a handwritten signature.
As a reminder, an attestation was added to the SAMS ST-3 certification Affidavit of Superintendent or Chancellor: As of 2017-18 SAMS, the certification affidavit includes an attestation that the reported expenditures on ST-3 Supplemental Schedule SS-8 (Community Schools Set-aside Expenditures) will be, with the exception of CSGI Cohort 1 funds, used to supplement and not supplant district expenditures for eligible programs and services.
The Office of the State Comptroller also requires the ST-3 Annual Financial Report certification page to be completed and mailed to the address shown below. Please do not send this form to the Education Department. This form should be signed by the treasurer and returned to the Office of the State Comptroller at the following address:
Office of the State Comptroller
Local Government and School Accountability
Data Management Unit 12-8-C
110 State Street
Albany, NY 12236-0001
Attention: Edward Burgess
Timely Submission of Claim Data: INITIAL CERTIFIED SUBMISSION
- All SAMS Form Sets must be certified by September 5th. District superintendents and public-school superintendents are requested to supervise the completion and timely submission of the aid claim and projections by the school districts for which each is responsible. Since late filing of required forms will delay payment of State Aid, every effort should be made to meet the specified due date
- Payments can take a week to prepare and are required to be submitted to the Office of the State Comptroller two weeks prior to the mandated payment date. Therefore, claims should be submitted three weeks prior to a mandated payment date (e.g., claim data must be submitted by September 25th for a payment to be made on or before October 16th in order to ensure that the payment due will be received in October).
- If all required reports are not received by September 5th, the school district will receive automated reminders that State Aid apportionments payable to the school district, other than payments to the Teachers Retirement System on the district's behalf, will be withheld pursuant to Section 3604(11) of the Education Law pending receipt of all reports due. Automated reminders will be sent to the State Aid Designee first. Subsequent reminders will also include the school superintendent, the district superintendent, and the president of the board of education.
- Please do not wait for completion of your independent audit in order to submit your ST-3 and other claim forms! All form sets can be submitted separately, and all data can be revised multiple times after submission.
Timely Submission of Claim Data: REVISIONS AFTER CERTIFICATION
Throughout the legislative cycle each year the Governor and the Legislature use districts and BOCES State Aid claims and projections to predict the fiscal impact of various legislative proposals affecting school aid formulas. The resulting predictions of fiscal impact are only as accurate as the data that has been filed with the Education Department.
School districts and BOCES should review and revise SAMS data as necessary. Review should be timed to be consistent with Section 305(21)(b) of the Education Law which requires the Commissioner of Education to update that data used by the Governor and the Legislature on November 15, February 15 and May 15. In order for the Education Department to process all data revisions and corrections prior to each of these data updates, revisions and corrections should be submitted no later than the following specified dates
| Date of Electronic Data File Update for the Governor and Legislature | Principal Purpose of the Data File |
Revisions in the Education Department by: |
|---|---|---|
| November 15 | Executive Budget Proposal | November 1 * |
| February 15 | Budget Negotiations and Enacted Budget | January 15 |
| May 15 | Updated Enacted Budget projections and June current year aid payments. | April 15 |
*This is a deadline for revisions to already submitted claims, not the deadline for original submission, which pursuant to NYS Education Law is Tuesday, September 5th, 2023. In addition, due to lengthier processing time, revisions to capital project costs, SA-139 forms and STAC data should be submitted by mid-October to affect the November 15th data file.
Submission of the Independent Audit Report
The report of the annual audit of the school district's records by an independent certified public accountant or an independent public accountant (Independent Audit Report) is due in the Department on October 15, 2023 for districts other than the five large dependent city school districts.
Please note that upon receipt of the Independent Audit Report, the district must reconcile its financial reports and implement any audit recommendations. Any resulting revisions to the ST-3 or the State Aid forms must be submitted via SAMS to the State Education Department.
The Independent Audit Report should be submitted using the NYSED Portal (NYSED Portal Tutorial). For more information on submission of the Independent Audit Report see the Office of Audit Service’s website.
Any questions related to submissions of the Independent Audit should be submitted to FSandSingleAudit@nysed.gov.
To verify that receipt of the independent audit has been logged into SAMS, select the "SED Only" form set from the menu, choose the Independent Audit Form and confirm that the date independent audit received has been entered by SED Audit Services.
| Questions Regarding | Please Call or email |
|---|---|
| SAMS/SAMS Problems | State Aid Office: (518) 474-2977 |
| RSU | Rate Setting Unit (518) 474-3227 |
| CPSE | STAC Unit (518) 474-7116 |
| Login/User Id Help | SEDDAS Help Desk (518) 473-8832 |
| Other Questions |
State Aid Staff Assignments Functional Directory State Aid Unit at (518) 474-2977 |