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THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234 Office of P-20 Education Policy |
This memorandum contains information pertaining to the requirement for SFAs to obtain prior approval for equipment purchase(s) from the State Education Department. Government-wide requirements found in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance cited at 2 CFR 200 (Subpart E Cost Principles), 2 CFR 200.439, Equipment and other capital expenditures, require a SFA to obtain the prior written approval of its awarding agency before incurring the cost of a capital expenditure. Both the OMB guidance and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles identify equipment as a capital asset. The OMB guidance and Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulations at 2 CFR 200.33 define “equipment” as tangible personal property (including information technology systems) having a useful life of one year or longer and a per-unit acquisition cost that equals or exceeds the lesser capitalization level established for financial statement purposes, $5,000, or a lower threshold set by local level regulations.
Purchasing equipment and other capital assets exposes the Child Nutrition Program to greater risk than do expenditures for such routine, recurring items as staff salaries, supplies, etc. SED’s prior review and approval provides reasonable assurance that the asset’s acquisition cost is reasonable, necessary, and allocable for Program purposes and that the nonprofit food service account can absorb the cost or that there is another appropriate funding source and the nonprofit food service account has a plan and the capacity to pay the fund back, if applicable.
New York State has received approval to allow SFAs to purchase equipment found on the attached NYSED Child Nutrition Program Pre-Approved Capital Equipment List without prior SED approval. SFAs must purchase those equipment items following federal, State, or local procurement procedures, as applicable, without submitting a prior approval request to SED. The SFA must complete the Equipment Purchase Based on Approved Equipment List Attestation and keep on file along with supporting documentation for review during future Administrative and Procurement Reviews.
If a SFA needs to purchase equipment not included on the NYSED Child Nutrition Program Pre-Approved Capital Equipment List, it must submit a request for approval to SED prior to purchasing the item as required by 2 CFR 200.439 on the attached Equipment Purchase/Capital Expenditure Pre-Approval Request Form. SED will review the request and will notify the SFA of approval/denial. Once the requested equipment is approved for purchase, the SFA must purchase those equipment items following federal, State or local procurement procedures, as applicable. The SFA must keep the SED approval and all supporting documentation of the procurement on file for review during future Administrative and Procurement reviews.
During administrative reviews required by 7 CFR Part 210.18 and procurement audits as required by 2 CFR 200.501, SED will review equipment purchases, ensuring purchases were made based on either the approved equipment list or the SED prior approval process. If equipment purchase(s) are deemed unallowable during any audit or review process, NYSED may disallow the purchase(s) and require the SFA to replenish the non-profit school food account as appropriate.
The Equipment Purchase/Capital Expenditure Pre-Approval Request Form can be emailed to cn@nysed.gov. If you have any questions regarding this memo, please contact your Child Nutrition Program Representative at 518-473-8781.
Attachments
Equipment Purchase Based on Pre-Approved Equipment List Attestation in Word and PDF
Equipment Purchase/Capital Expenditure Pre-Approval Request Form in Word and PDF
