New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 16 - DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE › Chapter V - WATERWORKS CORPORATIONS › Subchapter E - Uniform Systems Of Accounts › Article 1 - Classes A and B › Part 560 - General Provisions › Section 560.1 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a) When used in
					 this system of accounts:
(1) Accounts means
					 the accounts prescribed in this system of accounts.
(2) Actually issued, as applied to securities
					 issued or assumed by the utility, means those which have been sold to bona fide
					 purchasers for a valuable consideration, those issued as dividends on stock,
					 and those which have been issued in accordance with contractual requirements
					 direct to trustees of sinking funds.
(3) Actually outstanding, as applied to
					 securities issued or assumed by the utility, means those which have been
					 actually issued and are neither retired nor held by or for the utility;
					 provided, however, that securities held by trustees shall be considered as
					 actually outstanding.
(4)
					 Amortization means the gradual extinguishment of an amount in an account by
					 distributing such amount over a fixed period, over the life of the asset or
					 liability to which it applies, or over the period during which it is
					 anticipated the benefit will be realized.
(5)
(i)
					 Associated companies means companies or persons that, directly or indirectly,
					 through one or more intermediaries, control, or are controlled by, or are under
					 common control with, the accounting company.
(ii) Control (including the terms
					 controlling, controlled by, and under common control with), means the
					 possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the
					 direction of the management and policies of a company, whether such power is
					 exercised through one or more intermediary companies, or alone, or in
					 conjunction with, or pursuant to an agreement, and whether such power is
					 established through a majority or minority ownership or voting of securities,
					 common directors, officers, or stockholders, voting trusts, holding trusts,
					 associated companies, contract or any other direct or indirect means.
(6) Book cost means the amount at
					 which property is recorded in these accounts without deduction of related
					 provisions for accrued depreciation, amortization, or for other
					 purposes.
(7) Commission or the
					 commission means the Public Service Commission of the State of New
					 York.
(8) Company, corporation,
					 water-works corporation (see definition [20] herein; Public Service Law; also
					 General Provisions, §
												560.2  subd.
					 (b), Abstract from law).
(9) Cost
					 means the amount of money actually paid for property or services. When the
					 consideration given is other than cash in a purchase and sale transaction, as
					 distinguished from a transaction involving the issuance of common stock in a
					 merger or a pooling of interest, the value of such consideration shall be
					 determined on a cash basis.
(10)
					 Cost of removal means the cost of demolishing, dismantling, tearing down or
					 otherwise removing water plant, including the cost of transportation and
					 handling incidental thereto.
(11)
					 Debt expense means all expenses in connection with the issuance and initial
					 sale of evidences of debt, such as fees for drafting mortgages and trust deeds;
					 fees and taxes for issuing or recording evidences of debt; cost of engraving
					 and printing bonds and certificates of indebtedness, fees paid trustees;
					 specific costs of obtaining governmental authority; fees for legal services;
					 fees and commissions paid underwriters, brokers, and salesmen for marketing
					 such evidences of debt; fees and expenses of listing on exchanges; and other
					 like costs.
(12) Depreciation, as
					 applied to depreciable water plant, means the loss in service value not
					 restored by current maintenance, incurred in connection with the consumption or
					 prospective retirement of water plant in the course of service from causes
					 which are known to be in current operation and against which the utility is not
					 protected by insurance. Among the causes to be given consideration are wear and
					 tear, decay, action of the elements, inadequacy, obsolescence, changes in the
					 art, changes in demand and requirements of public authorities.
(13) Discount as applied to debt securities
					 issued or assumed by the utility, means the excess of the face value of the
					 debt securities plus interest accrued at the date of the sale over the cash
					 value of the consideration received from their sale.
(14) Investment advances means advances,
					 represented by notes or by book accounts only, with respect to which it is
					 mutually agreed or intended between the creditor and debtor that they shall be
					 settled by the issuance of securities or shall not be subject to current
					 settlement.
(15) Minor items of
					 property means the associated parts or items of which retirement units are
					 composed.
(16) Net salvage value
					 means the salvage value of property retired less the cost of removal.
(17) Nominally issued, as applied to
					 securities issued or assumed by the utility, means those which have been
					 signed, certified, or otherwise executed, and placed with the proper officer
					 for sale and delivery, or pledged, or otherwise placed in some special fund of
					 the utility, but which have not been sold, or issued direct to trustees of
					 sinking funds in accordance with contractual requirements.
(18) Nominally outstanding, as applied to
					 securities issued or assumed by the utility, means those which, after being
					 actually issued, have been reacquired by or for the utility under circumstances
					 which require them to be considered as held alive and not retired, provided,
					 however, that securities held by trustees shall be considered as actually
					 outstanding.
(19) Original cost as
					 applied to water plant, means the cost of such property to the person, or to
					 the municipal corporation operating a public utility, first devoting it to
					 public service.
(20) Person means
					 an individual, a corporation, a partnership, an association, a joint stock
					 company, a business trust, or any organized group of persons, whether
					 incorporated or not, or any receiver or trustee.
(21) Premium, as applied to the securities
					 issued or assumed by the utility, means the excess of the cash value of the
					 consideration received from their sale over the sum of their par (stated value
					 of stocks without par value) or face value and interest or dividends accrued at
					 the date of sale.
(22) Property
					 retired, as applied to water plant, means property which has been removed,
					 sold, abandoned, destroyed, or which for any cause has ceased to be used and
					 useful in the water service of the public.
(23) Replacing or replacement, when not
					 otherwise indicated in the context, means the construction or installation of
					 water plant in place of property retired, together with the removal of the
					 property retired.
(24) Research and
					 development means expenditures incurred by the companies either directly or
					 through another person or organization (such as research institute, industry
					 association, foundation, university, engineering company or similar contractor)
					 in pursuing research and development activities including experiment, design,
					 installation, construction or operation. Such research and development costs
					 should be reasonably related to the existing or future utility business. The
					 term includes but is not limited to: all such costs incidental to the design,
					 development or implementation of an experimental facility, a plant process, a
					 product, a formula, an invention, a system or similar items, and the
					 improvement of already existing items of a like nature; and the costs of
					 obtaining its own patent, such as attorney's fees expended in making and
					 perfecting a patent application. The term does not include expenditures for
					 efficiency surveys; studies of management, management techniques and
					 organization; consumer surveys, advertising, promotions, or items of a like
					 nature.
(25) Retained earnings
					 (formerly earned surplus) means the accumulated net income of the utility less
					 distribution to stockholders and transfers to other capital accounts.
(26) Retirement units means those items of
					 water plant which, when retired, with or without replacement, are accounted for
					 by crediting the book cost thereof to the water plant account in which
					 included.
(27) Salvage value means
					 the amount received for property retired, less any expenses incurred in
					 connection with the sale or in preparing the property for sale, or, if
					 retained, the amount at which the material recoverable is chargeable to
					 materials and supplies, or other appropriate account.
(28) Service life means the time between the
					 date water plant is includible in water plant in service, or water plant leased
					 to others, and the date of its retirement. If depreciation is accounted for on
					 a production basis rather than on a time basis, then service life should be
					 measured in terms of the appropriate unit of production.
(29) Service value means the difference
					 between the original cost and the net salvage value of water plant.
(30) Utility or utility company, as used
					 herein and when not otherwise indicated in the context means any waterworks
					 corporation, as defined in the Public Service Law, to which this system of
					 accounts is applicable.