State of Connecticut Property Control Manual March 2016 - Chapter 9- Disposition of Surplus Property

state of connecticut

Chapter 9

DISPOSITION OF SURPLUS PROPERTY


Questions regarding this chapter should be directed to the following:
Veronica Coty, DAS Surplus Unit 860-713-5049 veronica.coty@ct.gov   
Asset and Inventory Mailbox osc.assets@ct.gov
Elizabeth Daly, CPPA 860-702-3436 elizabeth.l.daly@ct.gov 
Fiscal Policy Statewide Services 860-702-3440  

Authority
The State Property Distribution Center (PDC) also referred to as DAS Surplus Unit is the legally authorized agent for the disposal of surplus state property.

Section 4a-4 of the Connecticut General Statutes, Control of State Property and Equipment provides:
"The Commissioner of Administrative Services shall consider and devise ways and means of establishing and maintaining proper control of State property and equipment, including vehicles and office equipment; shall require the establishment of proper permanent inventory records and the taking of physical inventories of both stores and equipment; shall discover unused and improperly used or neglected equipment and shall authorize the transfer, use, or disposal of such equipment."

Section 4a-52 of the Connecticut General Statutes, Regulations provides:
"The Commissioner of Administrative Services shall adopt regulations for the following purposes... (6) to provide for the transfer to or between such state agencies of supplies, materials, and equipment which are surplus with one such agency, but which may be needed by another or others, and for the disposal by sale of supplies, materials, and equipment which are obsolete or unusable."

Section 4a-57a. Distribution of surplus state property (a).
The Commissioner of Administrative Services shall administer a property distribution program for the disposition of usable property that a state agency deems surplus to its operating needs.

Purpose
The purpose of the DAS State Property Surplus Unit is to act as a clearinghouse for the transfer, sale or disposal of property that is surplus to the needs of a holding agency. Property that may be considered obsolete or unusable by one agency may serve another agency's operational needs. The DAS State Property Surplus Unit:

  1. Ensures that the State achieves the best possible utilization of its property
  2. Provides agencies with a cost-effective means of acquiring personal property
  3. Establishes an audit trail for State property

Responsibility of Holding Agencies
State agencies are responsible for maintaining adequate inventory controls and accountability systems for their personal property. Each agency should continuously survey its property to determine what is excess to its needs; reassign property among its activities when it is determined to be no longer required for its current use; and report to the DAS Surplus Unit personal property which becomes surplus to agency needs, unserviceable, obsolete or otherwise unusable. For the purposes of this chapter, personal property includes donated items and non-inventoried items.

State agencies shall not stockpile property.
It is essential for the proper control and use of state inventory that each agency's surplus property is redistributed to other agencies that have a need for the property.

State agencies must comply fully with reporting requirements.
As set forth in the Disposal of Items Deemed Scrap Section, when an agency reports surplus property to the DAS Surplus Unit, it must provide all pertinent information regarding the property. Accurately reporting the condition of the property is critical so that receiving agencies can select property with a clear understanding of its value.

State agencies must properly maintain property.
It is the responsibility of the holding agency to provide proper care and storage of its inventory. This requirement is mandatory until final disposition has been implemented through transfer, sale, scrap or other methods approved by the DAS Surplus Unit. After property has been declared surplus, the holding agency must make every effort to maintain such property in the same condition as reported to the DAS Surplus Unit. Agencies may not cannibalize, recover or remove parts, accessories or components of property that has been declared surplus without written approval from the DAS Surplus Unit. If an agency does not comply with these requirements, the DAS Surplus Unit is obligated under Section 4-33a of the General Statutes to notify the Auditors of Public Accounts and the State Comptroller of "breakdowns in safekeeping" of state property and the agency must complete a CO-853 Adjustment Report which can be found at http://osc.ct.gov/agencies/forms/index.html

Authorizations and Access
The head of each state agency must assign, through the DAS Surplus Unit, one of its employees as its authorized system administrator, and must notify the DAS Surplus Unit immediately if this assignment is transferred to another employee. The representative will be the contact person with the DAS Surplus Unit for surplus property issues.

Employees should follow the procedures in the DAS Surplus Manual (at http://DAS.ct.gov/surplus ) for specific details.

State Property Disbursement Process
Surplus State personal property shall be disbursed in the following order:

  1. Transfers between state agencies
  2. Sale to municipalities
  3. Sale by public auction (excluding computers/laptops/CRT monitors)
  4. Donations to approved non-profit organizations (excluding vehicles)

Unless granted a temporary exception by the DAS Surplus Unit, all state agencies (including quasi-public agencies) must declare surplus property through one of the DAS Surplus Systems. Current systems can be located at http://DAS.ct.gov/surplus . DAS Surplus Unit may charge service fees for the disposition of surplus property.

Disposal of Surplus Property
(excluding computers, laptops, CRT monitors, broken electronics and vehicles unless approved by the DAS Surplus Unit)

Instructions on how to use the system, links to the surplus websites and a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are on the DAS website at http://DAS.ct.gov/surplus  in the area reserved for State Agencies, Municipalities and Non-Profit Organizations.

Agencies may use form DPS-38 Disposal of Surplus Property Form and/or DPS-38A Disposal of Seized Property Form to request to dispose. It is available on the DAS website at http://DAS.ct.gov/surplus

Each agency will enter their surplus items into the auction system with descriptions and conditions listed as thoroughly and accurately as possible (make, model, serial number, measurements, if there are parts missing, if it is known to be working or not working, etc.). State agencies shall affix the system generated auction number to the corresponding inventory items.

The item is posted on the on-line system and will be available for other agencies to claim for 8 calendar days unless otherwise approved by the DAS Surplus Unit. For the last 4 calendar days of this period, municipalities will also be able to purchase surplus property. Once an item has been claimed or purchased, it becomes the claiming/purchasing agency's responsibility to pick up the item from the holding agency. Unless granted an exception by the DAS Surplus Unit, agencies are responsible for making the item(s) accessible to the buyer, which includes, but is not limited to, disconnecting all utilities.

If the item is not claimed during the initial 8 days, it is now available for the public to bid on for up to 4 days, unless otherwise approved by the DAS Surplus Unit.

If an item goes through the Public Auction and no one bids on it, the DAS Surplus Unit staff may relist the auction to make it available to registered Non-Profit users. Non-Profits now have up to 4 days to claim these items, unless otherwise approved by the DAS Surplus Unit. If the auction closes with no one claiming it, the DAS Surplus Unit staff will make a determination as to what the next step will be. The agency will be notified via e-mail.

Items remain on agency inventory record until final disposition has been reached (a buyer picks up and all paperwork has been processed; reallocation occurs and a CO-64 has been processed; etc.).

Disposal of Surplus Electronic Equipment
(Includes computers/laptops/CRT monitors and broken electronics)

Disposal of surplus electronic equipment as outlined above is through DAS's PDC System, which can be located at http://DAS.ct.gov/surplus . The electronic recycling contract information can be found using the DAS State Contracting Portal at http://www.biznet.ct.gov/scp_Search/Default.aspx?AccLast=1  . A "Training Manual" containing instructions on how to use the PDC System is available within the "Help" menu of the PDC System.

Each agency will enter its surplus items into the system, filling in the requested information. DAS Surplus Unit staff will then approve the items and they will be available for other agencies to claim for 14 calendar days unless otherwise approved by the DAS Surplus Unit. The agency responsibility requires that the system generated control number (item number) be affixed to the corresponding inventory items. For the last seven calendar days (or any part) of this period, municipalities will also be able to purchase surplus property. Once an item has been claimed on the system, it becomes the claiming agency's responsibility to pick up the item from the holding agency.

During this 14 day (or any part) period, approved Non-Profit organizations can request items for their use. These items will not be given to them if they are claimed by a state agency or purchased by a municipality but if not claimed by either of those, the agency will receive a donation ticket showing which Non-Profit has claimed their item(s).

All computer and/or electronic equipment deemed no longer useable must be recycled in an environmentally appropriate manner per Regulation of Connecticut State Agencies Sec. 22a-449(c)-113. Check the DAS contract portal for the current state vendor.

Per the National Institute of Standards and Technology Guidelines for Media Sanitization, "An organization may choose to dispose of media by charitable donation, internal or external transfer, or by recycling it in accordance with applicable laws and regulations if the media is obsolete or no longer usable. It is important that the organization ensure that no easily re-constructible residual representation of the data is stored on the media after it has left the control of the organization or is no longer going to be protected at the confidentiality categorization of the data stored on the media." Each agency must have a data destruction protocol that adheres to these standards and to OPM's Policy on Disposal of Digital Media located at http://www.ct.gov/opm/lib/opm/secretary/disposal_of_digital_media_policy.pdf

Items remain on agency inventory record until final disposition has been reached.

Disposal of Surplus Software
When it is determined that software is no longer needed by an agency, the software will then be removed from the inventory as follows:

  1. Authorized personnel will make the final determination on disposal and will provide a procedure to remove any licensed copies of that software from the corresponding hardware. All disposal of software must conform to the software publisher's or manufacturer's license agreements or copyright agreements.
  2. The software media and associated documentation will then be removed from the agency software inventory and library.
  3. It is the agency's responsibility to remove all software from a computer's CPU before the equipment is listed with the DAS Surplus Unit.

Items remain on agency inventory record until final disposition has been reached.

Disposal of Items Deemed Scrap
Property shall not be abandoned or destroyed by a State agency unless it is certified by a duly authorized representative of the DAS Surplus Unit that the property has no commercial value, or that the estimated cost of its continued care and handling would exceed the potential income that may have been derived from its sale. Once the DAS Surplus Unit has authorized the scrapping of material, the holding agency will assume all responsibility, including cost, for disposing of items deemed "scrap". The holding agency retains ownership (cannot remove it from their inventory) until the scrapping transaction is completed. Items remain on agency inventory record until final disposition has been reached.

Any item which has been designated to be "scrapped" may not be given away to any State employee or any individual; however, under certain circumstances, an interested and qualified non-profit organization may be eligible to receive "scrapped" property subject to the approval and authorization of the DAS Surplus Unit.

The DAS Surplus Unit will provide guidance to State agencies in determining the best alternative for disposing of scrap items.

Disposal of Surplus Vehicles
State agencies must comply with the following requirements for the disposal of state-owned vehicles:

  1. A completed Sale Declaration Report Form (DPS-29), Electronic DPS-29 - Sale Declaration Report (needed to surplus vehicles) along with all ownership documents must accompany a surplus vehicle turned into the DAS Surplus Unit.
  2. Owning agencies are responsible for accurately reporting all vehicle defects or irregular conditions that have been identified by the agency.
  3. Owning agencies are responsible for either delivering surplus vehicles to a site designated by the DAS Surplus Unit or arranging a pickup according to the DAS Surplus Manual procedure, On-line Surplus Vehicle Auction Instructions for State Agencies.
  4. Once the vehicle and all pertinent paperwork are turned over to DAS, the agency may remove it from their inventory records.

Disposal of Surplus Real Property
In accordance with Sec 4b-21 of the General Statutes of Connecticut, any agency having custody and control of land, an improvement to land, or interest in land belonging to the state will inform the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management (OPM), in writing, along with pertinent details of property including location, when the land, improvement or interest, or any part thereof, is not needed by the agency.

The Commissioner of the Department of Administrative Services will receive a copy of the notice sent to OPM.

The notice package to OPM and DAS will include a listing of:

  1. Any current/remaining third party (private or other state agency) occupying the site;
  2. All current Operating Permits issued by the State of Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the Federal Environmental Protection Agency; and
  3. The legal property descriptions and site utility plans.

If OPM determines that the property may properly be treated as surplus, OPM will notify the Commissioner of DAS and arrange for the agency to transfer the custody and control of the property to DAS, along with adequate funding for personnel and other operating expenses required for the maintenance of such land, improvement or interest.

Disposal of Firearm, Weapons, and Ammunition
Any agencies with surplus firearms and/or ammunition should complete a DPS-293-C Surrendered Firearms Log Sheet located in Appendix B of this Manual, a court order (if applicable) and an National Crime Information Center (NCIC) report for any firearms that are deemed surplus to their needs. Once this information has been compiled, contact the Firearms Recovery Unit at the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP) at 203-630-5600 to arrange a drop off. The options for scheduling are Tuesdays or Wednesdays from 10am-3pm and the time of the process varies based on the number of items being turned in.

Disposal of Items Containing Hazardous Materials or Radioactivity
Based on prior disposal approval from the DAS Surplus Unit, seek guidance from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) relating to the disposal of pesticides, environmental hazards, health hazards or radioactive items. No material in these categories will be handled by the DAS Surplus Unit. For information concerning radioactive waste contact DEEP at (860) 424-3029. For information concerning the disposal of hazardous waste contact DEEP at (860) 424-3366.

Trade-In of State Property
In an effort to upgrade equipment, a State agency may explore the feasibility of exchanging like items through the process of trading-in (including vehicles), as opposed to transfer or sale, when it is in the best economical interest of the State as determined by the owning agency.

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