Capital Planning

Policy

The Commonwealth of Kentucky (State) maintains control over all capital construction projects for the University. The university is permitted to directly manage projects with a total cost of less than $40K. Any capital construction projects over $40K must be managed by the Finance and Administration Cabinet.

Once a campus master plan is developed (procedures in the Budget section above), the plan is updated every two years in the biennial budget process. The biennial capital budget requests are drawn from the six-year master plan. Budget requests may include discreet projects, such as a new building, or an allocation of funds for asset preservation projects included in the campus master plan. State appropriations awarded for capital construction projects may include a required institutional match amount or percentage.

The Finance and Administration Cabinet (FAC), through the Division of Engineering and Contract Administration (DECA), handles all procurement, bids, contracts, and payments for capital construction projects. The University tracks all transaction activity through the FAC e-comm system. The Capital Projects Manager manages onsite relations with contractors and holds progress meetings with the state.

The procedures in this section apply to capital construction projects approved in the annual budget process.

Procedures

Responsible position(s):

• Capital Projects Manager
• Fixed Assets Accountant
• Grant Accountant

Required documents and access:

• Campus master plan
• eMARS access

Frequency and timing:

• Weekly – tracking capital project expenses
• Monthly, at minimum – progress meetings, reconciling capital expenses, drawing grant funds
• Ad hoc – as projects commence or complete

Steps:

• Capital Projects Manager initiates a new capital construction project with the state:
• oSubmit a request to the Office of the State Budget Director (OSBD) to establish a new project account with the state.