Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 220 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC UTILITIES › Title 220 CMR 50.00 - Uniform System Of Accounts For Gas Companies › SUPPLEMENT TO UNIFORM SYSTEM OF ACCOUNTS

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
For Gas Companies for Application to Municipal Lighting
		  Plants--Gas
A. The definitions,
		instructions, and accounts contained in the foregoing main body of this System
		of Accounts, as modified by this supplement, shall apply to Municipal Lighting
		Plants, to the extent applicable to operations of the gas department of the
		municipality, with the same force and effect as in the case of Gas Companies
		subject to the jurisdiction of the Department.
B. Whenever the term "gas department" is used
		in this supplement, it shall be understood to mean the gas department of a
		municipality, or such department of a municipality as is responsible for the
		construction or operation of the lighting plant and it shall also mean the gas
		works themselves and their operations.
C. Separate accounts and accounting records
		shall be maintained for the gas department as though it were a separate
		corporation.
D. In order that the
		books of the gas department may show accurately the results of operations, the
		gas department shall credit the appropriate accounts with the cost of property,
		services, materials, supplies, use of space or equipment, etc., furnished to
		the municipality or any other department thereof.
E. Similarly, the accounts for gas operations
		shall include the cost of all items applicable thereto, including expenses of
		the gas department paid by the municipality, and services, materials, supplies,
		water supply, use of space or equipment, etc., furnished by the municipality or
		any other department thereof to the gas department.
F. These provisions are intended to make
		possible accurate determination of the results of operations of the gas
		department by including in the operating accounts all applicable items, whether
		or not they represent actual payments.
G. For convenience, all of the balance sheet
		and surplus accounts prescribed for Municipal Lighting Plants are listed
		hereinafter, but the texts are given for only those accounts which are in
		addition to those prescribed for other Gas Companies and for those accounts
		which are modified.
Municipal Lighting Plants
		  Classified
Except as modified by this supplement, Municipal Lighting
		  Plants shall keep the accounts prescribed in the main body of this System of
		  Accounts for Class B Gas Companies.
Tax Levy and Form of Vote Regarding
		  Levy
The statutory provisions governing the operations of Municipal
		  Lighting Plants are designed, so far as practicable, to permit such plants to
		  be operated on a business basis as though independently owned and operated. As
		  the city or town in its corporate capacity is in every instance a large
		  consumer of gas, the statutes require that there shall be appropriated and
		  included in the tax levy an amount not less than the estimated cost of gas to
		  be used by the city or town, and the money so appropriated is treated as
		  income, the same as though received from a private customer. If there is any
		  excess of income over current expenses (including, as required by the statute,
		  depreciation, interest and maturing debt requirement), such excess of profit
		  may be left in the business, or returned to the town treasury, to be used, like
		  other municipal receipts, for the relief of general taxes. If left in the
		  business it should be used in the succeeding year for extensions and additions,
		  to that extent relieving the city or town from the necessity of making
		  additional appropriations or incurring debt for that purpose.
A doubt has always existed, in view of the language of the
		  statute, whether the receipts from private customers can be used for the
		  expenses of the plant without being expressly appropriated therefor by the city
		  council or town meeting. To eliminate this question and also to provide for the
		  disposition of any excess of income over expenses for the year, it is
		  recommended that the appropriations for the current expenses of Municipal
		  Lighting Plants be made substantially in the following terms:
ORDERED: That there be included in the tax levy for gas used
		  for street lights the sum of___ dollars, and that said sum and the income from
		  sales of gas to private consumers or for gas supplied to municipal buildings or
		  for municipal power, and from sales of appliances and jobbing during the
		  current fiscal year, be appropriated for the Municipal Lighting Plant, the
		  whole to be expended by the manager of municipal lighting under the direction
		  and control of the municipal light board (of the selectmen) (of the mayor) for
		  the expense of the plant for said fiscal year, as defined in M.G.L. c. 164,
		  § 57, and that, if said sum and said income shall exceed said expense for
		  said fiscal year, such excess shall be transferred to the construction fund of
		  said plant and appropriated and used for such additions thereto as may
		  thereafter be authorized by the municipal light board (by the selectmen) (by
		  the mayor).
If it is desired to return the excess to the town or city
		  treasury, the closing words of the order, beginning "shall be transferred,"
		  etc., should be stricken out and the following words substituted, to wit:
		  "shall be returned to the town (city) treasury."