Institutional Federal Compliance Report 2021

58 • Notes to Basic Financial Statements __________________________________________________________________________

Private Purpose Trust Funds —are used to account for resources legally held in trust as escheat prop- erty and resources held in trust to facilitate savings for higher education expenses and disability- related expenses, pursuant to New York’s 529 College Savings and New York ABLE Savings pro- grams, respectively. There is no requirement that any portion of these resources be preserved as capital. Information reported for the savings pro- grams is obtained from the audited financial state- ments prepared by the programs for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018. Agency Funds —account for various employee benefit programs and for the disposition of various payroll-related deductions. These funds also include accounts for the transfer from other funds of the federal, State, and local shares of Medicaid program expenditures to a paying agent for payment to health care providers. In addition, the funds include various escrow, revenue collec- tion and agency accounts for which the State acts in an agent’s capacity until proper disposition of the assets can be made. Additionally, the State includes discretely pre- sented component units: Component Units —the public benefit corporations’ financial statements, except for the State Insur- ance Fund and the Aggregate Trust Fund, are prepared using the economic resources measure- ment focus and are accounted for on the accrual basis of accounting. The State Insurance Fund and the Aggregate Trust Fund prepare financial statements in conformity with accounting practices prescribed or permitted by the New York State Department of Financial Services. The Depart- ment of Financial Services recognizes only New York Statutory Accounting Practices for deter- mining and reporting the financial condition and results of operations of an insurance company and for determining its solvency under New York State Insurance Law. The impact of variances from GAAP is not material to the Corporations in total. d. Cash and Investments Cash balances of funds held in the State Treasury are commingled in a general checking account and several special purpose bank accounts. The available cash balance in the general checking account beyond imme- diate need is pooled for short-term investment pur- poses. The balances pooled are limited to legally stipulated investments, which are reported at cost, including accrued interest, which approximates fair value. Non-interest-bearing compensating balances of $168 million are included in cash and investments at March 31, 2019. At various times during the year, compensating balances could be substantially higher.

Other Governmental Funds —is a summarization of all the nonmajor governmental funds. The governmental fund financial statements include a reconciliation between the fund statements and the government-wide statements. Differences that make a reconciliation necessary include the differences in measurement focus and basis of accounting between the statements. The Statement of Activities reflects the net costs of each major function of State opera- tions, which differs from the presentation of expen- ditures in the Statement of Revenues, Expenditures and Changes in Fund Balances—Governmental Funds, which matches the State’s budgetary (financial plan) presentation. The State reports the following major Enterprise Funds: Lottery Fund —accounts for lottery revenues that are earmarked for education assistance to local school districts, lottery administrative costs of the New York State Gaming Commission, and payment of lottery prizes. Unemployment Insurance Benefit Fund —accounts for unemployment contributions from employers that are utilized for the payment of unemployment compensation benefits. SUNY Fund —accounts for the operations of the State University of New York (SUNY). Information reported in this fund is obtained from the audited financial statements prepared by SUNY for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018. CUNY Fund —accounts for the operations of the City University of New York (CUNY) Senior Colleges. Information reported in this fund is obtained from the audited financial statements of the Senior Colleges prepared by CUNY for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018. Enterprise Funds distinguish operating revenues and expenses from nonoperating items. Operating revenues and expenses generally result from provid- ing services in connection with an Enterprise Fund’s principal ongoing operations. Operating expenses for Enterprise Funds include the cost of sales and ser- vices, administrative expenses and depreciation on capital assets. All revenues and expenses not meeting this definition are reported as nonoperating revenues and expenses. Fiduciary Funds are used to report assets held in a trustee or agency capacity for others, which therefore cannot be used to support the government’s own pro- grams. The types of Fiduciary Funds maintained by the State consist of the following: Pension Trust Fund —accounts for the activities of the New York State and Local Retirement System, which accumulates resources for pension benefit payments to qualified public employees.