State of North Carolina
Office of the State Controller  

James B. Hunt, Jr. 
Governor

Edward Renfrow
State Controller

November 1, 1999



MEMORANDUM SAD 00-41
 
To: Chief Fiscal Officers 
Vice Chancellors 
Community College Business Officers
From: Don Waugh 
Assistant State Controller
Subject: Fixed Asset/Infrastructure Reporting Under GASB Statement No. 34

 

On June 30, 1999, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board issued GASB Statement No. 34, Basic Financial Statements—and Management's Discussion and Analysis—for State and Local Governments, which will significantly change the way state and local governments report their finances to the public. In addition to the State’s general government agencies, the accounting and financial reporting for the State’s Community College System, and the University of North Carolina System will also be affected by this new GASB standard. GASB Statement No. 34 will be effective beginning with the fiscal year ending June 30, 2002.

An important aspect of the new standard is that agencies will have to report in their financial statements all fixed assets meeting the capitalization threshold, including infrastructure assets (1). In addition, agencies will have to report depreciation expense and accumulated depreciation on all fixed assets.

(1)Infrastructure assets are long-lived capital assets that normally are stationary in nature and normally can be preserved for a significantly greater number of years than most capital assets. Examples of infrastructure include roads, bridges, tunnels, drainage systems, water and sewer systems, curbs and gutters, sidewalks, parking lots, dams, and lighting systems. In planning for this upcoming standard, we need to gather certain information about your infrastructure assets. Please complete the attached survey and return it to OSC by December 3, 1999. We have also attached the applicable sections from GASB Statement No. 34 on capital assets. If you have any questions, please call Clayton Murphy at (919) 981-5474 or John Barfield at (919) 981-5470. Thank you for your assistance.

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