(A) The town and its various departments shall classify capital expenditures as capital outlays within the fund from which the expenditure was made in accordance with the Chart of Accounts of the Cities and Towns Accounting Manual. The cost of property, land, and equipment includes all expenditures necessary to put the asset into position and ready for use. For purposes of recording fixed assets of the town and its departments, the valuation of assets shall be based on historical cost or where the historical cost is indeterminable, by estimation for those assets in existence.
(B) The town’s municipally-owned utilities shall record acquisition of capital assets in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. When an asset is purchased for cash, the acquisition is simply recorded as the amount of cash paid, including all outlays relating to its purchase and preparation for intended use. Assets may be acquired under a number of other arrangements including:
(1) Assets acquired for a lump-sum purchase price;
(2) Purchase on deferred payment contract;
(3) Acquisition under capital lease;
(4) Acquisition by exchange of non-monetary assets;
(5) Acquisition by issuance of securities;
(6) Acquisition by self-construction; or
(7) Acquisition by donation or discovery.
(C) Some of these arrangements present special problems relating to the cost to be recorded. For example, in utility accounting, interest during a period of construction has long been recognized as a part of the asset cost. Reference to an intermediate accounting manual will illustrate the recording of acquisition of assets under the aforementioned acquisition arrangements. For purposes of recording capital assets of the utilities, the valuation of assets shall be based on historical cost.
(D) In addition, an asset register shall be maintained to provide a detailed record of the capital assets of the governmental unit.
(Ord. 2016-8, passed 5-2-2016)