Notification of Building Project, Form SA-4
We thought it might be a good idea to give a little reminder to the districts about this form—what it does, where it originates, etc.
When we receive a final submission for a Building Permit, one of the forms required as part of that submission is the FP-F, Application for Examination and Approval of Final Plans and Specifications. The front part of that form includes financial information about the proposed project, including the date the project was authorized (usually by voter referendum), the total amount authorized for that particular project, the source of funding (bond, budgetary, etc.) and the back part of the form indicates the breakdown of estimated costs among the various expenditure categories (contract costs versus incidental costs).
The project manager checks this form to be sure it has been signed and sealed appropriately, that there is a date of anticipated substantial completion, that there is a date of authorization (and whether or not that date has passed or is forthcoming…), that the total financing agrees with the total estimated cost breakdown (those amounts should be the same), and that the math has been done correctly. The project manager also checks to see that the source of funds has been specified when "Other" is indicated as part of the total financing. (Note: If the district intends to use RESCUE funds for a project, they must indicate whether it is "RESCUE 1" or "RESCUE 2," and, if both, how much will come from each year RESCUE monies were appropriated for districts to use.) When satisfied that these issues are all acceptable, the project manager uses the information on that form to complete an SA-4 worksheet.
It is important for you to realize that we are assuming that the information given to us on the FP-F is accurate since the form is signed by district officials (i.e., the President of the Board of Education and the Superintendent of Schools) and is also signed and sealed by the architect or engineer of record for the project. (Note: It is strongly recommended that the chief business official of the school district checks the accuracy of the information on that form before it is signed by those three parties.)
When the project has been reviewed and approved by the architects and/or engineers in our office and is ready for a Building Permit to be issued, a member of our support staff processes the projects and sends final approval documents to the district (actually to the Superintendent of Schools). At the same time, the information from the SA-4 Worksheet is entered into the computer and electronically transmitted to the Office of State Aid on a weekly basis.
The Office of State Aid will then use the information on our SA-4 worksheet to put together the actual SA-4 form, a copy of which will be sent to the district. The two most important things to note is that (1) the SA-4 information is based on the information the district sends our office on the FP-F form; and (2) the actual SA-4 form is sent out by the Office of State Aid.
There are logically two points in time where the SA-4 may need to be revised. They are: (1) after contracts are signed, and (2) before time the district files the final building expenditure report for the project. (Note: It is important to recognize that what the district refers to as "a project" will probably encompass a multitude of "projects" to us. The district often refers to the entire referendum that is put before the voters as being "a capital project." However, we establish projects on a building-by-building basis so we may set up many projects if work is going to be done in several buildings and at different times.)
- After contracts are signed:
Upon signing the contracts for the work to be done, the district may find out that a project is going to actually cost more than they anticipated when they submitted the project to us for the Building Permit. When this happens, the district will want to revise the SA-4 and the way to do this is to send two completed copies of the FP-FI form, Request for Revision of Financial Information, to our office along with a copy of the authorization (i.e., the actual referendum that was put before the voters or the Board resolution) if the project is to be increased. (If the total amount of the project(s) is to be decreased, then the district does not need to submit a copy of the authorization with the FP-FI.)
The district should never request projects to be approved by us or set up on our records that will exceed in the aggregate the total amount that was authorized for all of the anticipated work to be done. Therefore, if an authorization consists of more than one project and the total authorization has been assigned to various SA-4’s, then the district must decrease one or more projects in order to increase any project covered by that authorization unless more money has been allocated for that work (either by voter authorization, Board authorization as an ordinary contingent expense, donations, grants, etc.).
After approval by a project manager, the information on the FP-FI is electronically transmitted to the Office of State Aid and a copy of the actual FP-FI form is forwarded to John O’Donnell in the Office of State Aid. In turn, the Office of State Aid will send a new SA-4 to the school district reflecting the changes requested and approved.
2. Before the Final Building Expenditure Report is filed:
When the work has been finished and all the bills have been paid, the district will know whether or not the final cost report for a particular project will stay within or exceed what is currently shown on our records for the SA-4. If the total cost for any particular project is going to exceed the total on the SA-4, then the district should send two copies of the FP-FI to our office for processing, just as indicated under #1 above, before sending the Final Building Expenditure Report.
We hope this clarifies some facts about the SA-4 for you. To sum it up, the actual SA-4 is a State Aid form so if you have questions about the SA-4 itself, you should contact the Office of State Aid at (518) 474-2977. On the other hand, if you have questions about the FP-FI, you should contact Curt Miller in the Office of Facilities Planning at (518) 474-3906. (Note: At the present time all FP-FI requests are being processed by one project manager, Curt Miller.)
If you know that you need to change the amounts on the SA-4, you should go to our web site (www.emsc.nysed.gov/facplan/) download that form, and follow the directions on it.