2018 Colorado Revised Statutes
Title 24 - Government - State
Principal Departments
Article 30 - Department of Personnel - State Administrative Support Services
Part 2 - Accounts and Control
§ 24-30-202. Procedures - vouchers, warrants, and checks - rules - penalties - definitions
(1) No disbursements shall be made in payment of any liability incurred on behalf of the state, other than from petty cash or by any alternative means of payment approved by fiscal rule promulgated by the controller, unless there has been previously filed with the office of the state controller a commitment voucher. The commitment voucher may be in the form of an advice of employment, a purchase order, a copy of a contract, or a travel authorization or in other form appropriate to the type of transaction as prescribed by the controller. Any state contract involving the payment of money by the state shall contain a clause providing that the contract shall not be deemed valid until it has been approved by the controller or such assistant as he or she may designate; except that a state contract for a major information technology project as defined in section 24-37.5-102 (2.6) shall contain a clause providing that the contract shall not be deemed valid until it has been approved by the chief information officer or the chief information officer's designee. Such contracts entered into on or after July 1, 1997, shall also contain a clause notifying the other party to the contract of the controller's authority to withhold debts owed to state agencies under the vendor offset intercept system pursuant to section 24-30-202.4 (3.5)(a)(I) and the types of debts that are subject to withholding under said system. The form and content of and procedures for filing such vouchers shall be prescribed by the fiscal rules promulgated by the controller.
(2) The controller, or such assistant as he may designate, shall examine each commitment voucher to ascertain whether or not the proposed expenditure is authorized by the appropriation and allotment to which it is proposed to be charged, whether or not the prices or rates are in accordance with law or administrative rules or are fair and reasonable and whether or not the amount of the expenditure exceeds the unencumbered balance of the allotment. The controller or his designated assistant shall record his approval or disapproval either on the face of each voucher or by electronically entering such approval or disapproval in the state computer-based accounting system. The head of the state department, institution, or other agency involved shall be notified of any proposed expenditures that are disallowed.
(3) In no event shall the head of any state department, institution, or other agency or the controller, either by himself or through any assistant designated by him, approve any commitment voucher involving expenditure of any sum in excess of the unencumbered balance of the appropriation to which the resulting disbursement would be charged. No person shall incur or order or vote for the incurrence of any obligation against the state in excess of or for any expenditure not authorized by appropriation and approved commitment voucher except as expressly authorized by this section. Any such obligation so raised in contravention of this section shall not be binding against the state but shall be null and void ab initio and incapable of ratification by any administrative authority of the state to give effect thereto against the state. But every person incurring or ordering or voting for the incurrence of such obligation and his surety shall be jointly and severally liable therefor.
(4) The controller is hereby authorized to grant special authority for any department, institution, or other agency, during any fiscal year, to make specific purchases of supplies or materials to be used in the next ensuing fiscal year or to enter into contracts in anticipation of appropriations already made or to be made for the next ensuing fiscal year for any purpose authorized by any existing law, including contracts by the department of transportation for state highway reconstruction, repair, maintenance, and capacity expansion projects to be funded by the revenues appropriated out of the capital construction fund under section 24-75-302 (2), but in no case for any amount exceeding that necessary to meet the requirements for the first quarter of the next fiscal year. No such purchase order shall be issued nor contract entered into unless such purchase order or contract has been approved and countersigned by the controller or the controller's authorized agent, whose duty it shall be to see that the special authority so granted is not exceeded; except that this restriction shall not apply to contracts for capital outlay projects for which appropriations have been provided for obligations to be incurred in two or more fiscal years. Payments made at the close of a fiscal year under such authority shall be treated as deferred charges to the appropriations and expenses of the next ensuing fiscal year until the beginning of such year.
(5) (a) No money of the state or for which the state is responsible shall be withdrawn from the treasury or otherwise disbursed for any purpose except to pay obligations under expenditures authorized by appropriation and allotment and not in excess of the amount so authorized. Each such expenditure shall have been authorized by the head of the department, institution, or other agency by or for which the expenditure was made. Such authorization shall contain the manual or facsimile signature of the head of the department, institution, or agency or any assistant designated by him. The controller, or his authorized agent, shall have approved a commitment voucher therefor, and a claim on a prescribed form shall have been submitted to and approved by the controller or his agent. The provisions of this section shall not be construed to apply to withdrawals of funds from any state depository bank for immediate redeposit in any other state depository bank or for investment.
(b) If a state department, institution, or agency enters into a contract to purchase real property or any interest therein that has a total purchase price of more than one hundred thousand dollars, the contract must contain a contingency clause that requires the state to secure an appraisal of the subject real property or interest therein prior to closing by an independent appraiser licensed in the state of Colorado to substantiate the purchase price and that makes the closing of the purchase contingent on the approval of the contract by the state controller. When the state department, institution, or agency entering into the contract receives the appraisal, the state department, institution, or agency shall provide a copy of the appraisal to the state controller. This paragraph (b) shall not apply to the acquisition of property by the department of transportation for the construction, maintenance, or supervision of the public highways of this state, nor shall it apply to any additional lease-purchase agreement entered into pursuant to the master lease program authorized by part 7 of article 82 of this title.
(c)
(I) If a state department, institution, or agency enters into an option to purchase real property or any interest therein that has a total purchase price of more than one hundred thousand dollars, the appraisal requirement described in paragraph (b) of this subsection (5) must occur prior to closing on the purchase of the real property or interest therein.
(II) Prior to a state department, institution, or agency entering into an option to purchase real property or any interest therein that has a total purchase price of more than one hundred thousand dollars, the state department, institution, or agency shall obtain a written broker opinion of value completed by an independent broker licensed in the state of Colorado or an appraisal by an independent appraiser licensed in the state of Colorado of the subject property in order to complete a thorough analysis of the property or interests therein being considered. The opinion of value or the appraisal must be forwarded to the state controller prior to the state controller approving the option to purchase contract.
(5.5) Any commitment voucher that provides that the financial obligations of the state in subsequent fiscal years are contingent upon funds for that purpose being appropriated, budgeted, and otherwise made available shall not be deemed to create any state multiple-fiscal year direct or indirect debt or other financial obligation whatsoever for purposes of section 20 (4)(b) of article X of the state constitution. If a lease-purchase agreement is subject to the requirement of specific authorization by the general assembly under part 8 of article 82 of this title, such committees shall make a recommendation to the general assembly concerning whether to authorize the lease-purchase agreement involving the issuance of certificates of participation or other instruments. The department of personnel and the Colorado commission on higher education shall maintain comparative data which will assist in determining the relative costs to the state, over the entire term of the arrangement, of financing the purchase or lease of property through pay-as-you-go methods, certificates of participation, or other arrangements.
(6) The controller shall prescribe the form of warrants and checks to be drawn upon the state treasurer. All warrants and checks for approved expenditures and claims shall be drawn and issued under direction of the controller or his or her authorized agent and transmitted to the department of the treasury to be recorded.
(7) Each warrant and check drawn and issued shall be signed by the controller and countersigned by the state treasurer. Facsimiles of such signature and countersignature may be affixed by a mechanical device. The signature of the controller on a warrant or check, however affixed, shall constitute full and complete authority to the state treasurer to pay the amount thereof upon presentation to him or her.
(8) Each warrant or check drawn and issued shall bear a notation clearly printed in a prominent position upon its face stating that it shall be void after six months from its date of issue. Upon satisfactory proof furnished of loss or destruction, during said six-month period, of any warrant or check drawn and issued in payment of an approved expenditure or claim, the controller shall cause a duplicate of such lost or destroyed warrant or check to be drawn and issued in favor of the original payee or his or her assignee, as the case may be. The issuing state agency shall thereupon void said original warrant or check, and, if it thereafter is presented for payment, the state treasurer shall refuse payment thereof.
(8.5) Any other provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, the controller may, after adequate notification to the state treasurer, make payment by means of an electronic fund transfer. Payment by electronic fund transfer shall be in lieu of payment by state warrant or check and shall discharge the controller's obligation with respect to payment. Any unauthorized use of the electronic fund transfer capability shall be reported to the controller within twenty-four hours after occurrence or disclosure becomes known. Immediately upon discovery of unauthorized use, measures that will prevent further unauthorized use shall be implemented.
(9) (a) Every warrant and check drawn and issued that has not been presented to the state treasurer for payment and remains unpaid shall be cancelled pursuant to fiscal rules promulgated by the state controller and transferred to the unclaimed property trust fund created in section 38-13-116.5; except that the amount of any warrant or check drawn on the wildlife cash fund created in section 33-1-112 (1), other than a warrant or check refunding a license fee submitted as part of an unsuccessful limited license application, shall be credited to that fund and the amount of any warrant or check representing money received by the federal government shall be processed in accordance with federal program guidelines for disposition of those moneys.
(b) If at any time thereafter application is made to the controller for reissuance of any warrant or check that has been cancelled and expunged from the records and it appears that the expenditure or claim that the cancelled warrant or check represented is still valid and unpaid, the controller shall issue a new warrant or check, and the amount thereof shall be charged to the fund or account to which the amount of the cancelled warrant or check was previously credited.
(c) In the event of any conflict between this subsection (9) and any provision of the "Unclaimed Property Act", article 13 of title 38, C.R.S., the provisions of the "Unclaimed Property Act" shall control; except that this subsection (9) shall control with regard to:
(I) A tax warrant or check;
(II) Repealed.
(III) That portion of a warrant or check representing moneys received from the federal government;
(IV) A warrant or check drawn on the wildlife cash fund created in section 33-1-112 (1), C.R.S., other than a warrant or check refunding a license fee submitted as part of an unsuccessful limited license application.
(d) Notwithstanding any provision of this subsection (9) to the contrary, the provisions of this subsection (9) shall not apply to any warrant or check drawn by an institution of higher education or by the Auraria higher education center that is exempt from the state fiscal rules pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection (13) of this section.
(10) The attorney general shall be the legal adviser of the controller and to the attorney general shall be referred any question concerning the legality of any obligation by or claim against the state.
(11) It is the duty of the controller to keep up to date a detailed list of all sources from which moneys accrue to the state, classified according to the departments, institutions, and other agencies responsible for the collection of the moneys, showing for each of the several units: The several kinds of taxes, fees, and other charges collected or to be collected; the name of the person responsible for collecting public moneys from each such source; and the name of the employee actually engaged in collecting, handling, and depositing such moneys. The controller has the power, and it is his duty with respect to each state tax, to prescribe or approve such accounts and procedures as will provide adequate accounting and current internal audit control of unpaid taxes and other charges and the proceeds of collections and as will furnish the information required for the maintenance of the general accounts of the state. The controller has the power and it is his duty to prescribe the forms to be used by the several units for licenses, permits, and certificates for which fees are prescribed by law and to establish controls of the supplies of such forms.
(12) The controller shall prescribe and cause to be installed a unified and integrated system of accounts for the state. Except as otherwise provided in sections 24-75-201 (2) and 25.5-4-201, C.R.S., such system shall be based upon the accrual system of accounting, as enunciated by the governmental accounting standards board, which shall include:
(a) A set of budgetary control accounts for each fund, which shall be maintained pursuant to the accounts and control functions of the department of personnel;
(b) A set of general controlling proprietary and operating accounts for each fund, which shall be maintained pursuant to the accounts and control functions of the department of personnel, recording the transactions of the fund in summary form and showing the actual current assets, prepaid expenses, current liabilities, deferred credits to income, reserves, actual income, actual expenditures, and current surplus or deficit as the case may be;
(c) A uniform classification of the sources of revenue and nonrevenue receipts, which shall be observed by all the departments, institutions, and other agencies;
(d) A standard classification of the departments, institutions, and other agencies and their principal functions, by major functions of government;
(e) A standard classification of expenditures by activities;
(f) A unified classification of ordinary recurring expenses, extraordinary expenses, and capital outlays, respectively, by the kinds of commodities and services involved, which shall be observed in reporting expenditures, in preparing budget estimates, and in allotting appropriations.
(13) (a) The controller shall promulgate fiscal rules to carry out the functions assigned and the procedures prescribed by this section. Such rules relating to the forms, records, and procedures involved in financial administration shall be binding upon the several departments, institutions, including institutions of higher education except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection (13), and other agencies of the state and upon their several officers and employees.
(b) It is the intent of the general assembly that fiscal rules promulgated by the controller shall be applicable to any institution of higher education; except that the governing board of an institution of higher education that has adopted fiscal procedures and has determined that the fiscal procedures provide adequate safeguards for the proper expenditure of the moneys of the institution may elect to exempt the institution from the fiscal rules promulgated by the controller pursuant to this subsection (13), including any procedures or forms required by law to be promulgated by the controller and any review or approval required to be performed by the controller, and shall not be required to comply with rules promulgated pursuant to this subsection (13) or with the provisions of subsection (1), (5)(b), (20.1), (22), or (26) of this section. The provisions of this paragraph (b) shall also apply to the board of directors of the Auraria higher education center with regard to the expenditure of moneys of the auraria higher education center.
(c) Repealed.
(d) An institution of higher education, including the auraria higher education center, that is exempt from the state fiscal rules pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subsection (13) shall continue to provide to the controller such information as is necessary to enable the controller to meet the obligations set forth in subsection (11) of this section and sections 24-17-102 and 24-30-204; except that an institution of higher education shall be required to provide only such data and reports as are readily accessible to the institution or presently generated by the institution.
(14) If the controller or any other state employee knowingly draws or issues any warrant or check upon the state treasurer not authorized by law, he or she is guilty of a misdemeanor in office and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of a sum four-fold the amount of such warrant or check, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(15) Any person holding the office of state treasurer or controller or any other state officer or employee who, directly or indirectly, receives from any person, body of persons, association, or corporation, for himself or herself or otherwise than in behalf of the state, any reward, compensation, or profit, either in money or other property or thing of value, in consideration of the loan to or deposit with any such person, body of persons, association, or corporation of any public money or other property belonging to the state or in the consideration of the approval or payment of any claim against the state or any other agreement or arrangement touching the use of such money or uses or knowingly permits the use of any such money for any purposes not authorized by law commits a class 6 felony and shall be punished as provided in section 18-1.3-401, C.R.S.
(16) Any person who, directly or indirectly, pays or gives to anyone holding the office of state treasurer or controller or to any other state officer or employee or other person any reward or compensation, either in money or other property or things of value, in consideration of the loan to or deposit with any such person, body of persons, association, or corporation of any public money belonging to the state or for which the state is responsible or in consideration of the approval or payment of any claim against the state or of any other agreement or arrangement touching the use of such money commits a class 6 felony and shall be punished as provided in section 18-1.3-401, C.R.S.
(17) Any state officer or employee who willfully neglects or refuses to perform his duty as prescribed in this section or as prescribed in the fiscal rules promulgated by the controller in conformity with this section is guilty of a misdemeanor in office and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars.
(18) (a) to (e) Repealed.
(f) All state agencies are required to make and preserve records of employees' wages and hours and other conditions and practices of employment.
(g) to (j) Repealed.
(19) If any money of the state is paid out from any appropriation or fund for any purpose and such money, or any part thereof, is for any reason subsequently refunded to the state, the controller is authorized to order the money so refunded to be credited to the fund or appropriation from which it was originally paid.
(20) Repealed.
(20.1) The controller, or the controller's designee, is hereby authorized, upon written request made to the controller, to allow any state department, institution, or agency to draw upon its appropriation a sum set by fiscal rule promulgated by the controller, which fiscal rule may not authorize a sum in excess of two thousand five hundred dollars, and considered appropriate for the circumstances, to be used for the payment of incidental expenses. Items of postage, express, telegrams, and other incidental expenses may be paid from such moneys. At the end of each month, or as often as is practicable, the department, institution, or agency making such incidental expenditures shall submit a voucher to the controller covering the total amount of such expenditures and shall submit a list of all such expenditures, together with proper receipts, if any, and the controller shall draw the controller's warrant or check against the proper appropriation to cover all items of expenditures that the controller approves. The controller is also authorized, upon the request of any state department, institution, or agency, to allow a reasonable advance of moneys to employees and officials for authorized travel on official state business not to exceed an amount set by fiscal rule promulgated by the controller.
(21) If, as a result of fire or other insured loss to state property, the state receives moneys from any insurance company, the controller is authorized to deposit such moneys in an account from which he may, without regard to the provisions of part 3 of article 37 of this title and without further legislative action, reimburse contractors for repair, replacement, or reconstruction of state properties damaged or destroyed under a contract executed in accordance with state contracting laws and procedures in effect at the time of the execution of the contract. If the amount of insurance recovery exceeds the actual cost of such repair, replacement, or reconstruction, any balance remaining in said account after payment of actual costs shall revert to the general fund. With respect to the loss or damage to state property which is not insured or the loss or damage to state property which is insured but the insurance does not fully cover the loss or damage, the controller may, with the approval of the governor, without further legislative action, reimburse contractors for the repair, replacement, or reconstruction of such state property up to a maximum amount of one hundred thousand dollars; except that the controller is not authorized to provide for reimbursement for repair, replacement, or reconstruction of state property if the state is self-insured for loss or damage to state property.
(22) The controller shall make uniform and equitable fiscal rules controlling the types of perquisites which may be allowed state employees in the executive branch of government in addition to their regular salaries. Such rules shall include the eligibility of employees to receive such perquisites, the charges to be made for such perquisites, and the method of payment of such charges to the state. Before such rules become effective, they shall be approved by the governor. No employee shall have authority to grant to himself or herself or to any other employee under his or her supervision any perquisite, nor shall any employee receive any perquisite without full payment therefor, except as provided for by statute or by the rules of the controller as authorized in this section. Charges prescribed by such rules shall be reviewed annually by the controller.
(23) Repealed.
(24) (a) The controller shall promulgate fiscal rules requiring that disbursements made in the payment of any liability incurred on behalf of the executive branch of this state be made within forty-five days after such liability was incurred or shall pay interest from the forty-fifth day at a rate of one percent per month on the unpaid balance until the account is paid in full.
(b) As used in subsection (24)(a) of this section, "liability incurred on behalf of the state" means the receipt of supplies, as defined in section 24-101-301 (47), or services, as defined in section 24-101-301 (42), and receipt of a correct notice of the amount due, by the state agency procuring such supplies or services from a nongovernmental entity. No liability is incurred on behalf of the state if a good faith dispute exists as to the state's obligation to pay all or a portion of the account. Nothing in this subsection (24) shall be construed to affect any provision for the time of payment in a written contract between a state agency procuring services or supplies and a nongovernmental entity.
(25) (a) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2005, p. 278, § 9, effective August 8, 2005.)
(b) On July 1, 1985, the controller shall, by fiscal rule, provide for the assessment of a reasonable monetary penalty based on cost against any person who issues a check returned for insufficient funds to any state department, institution, or agency in payment of fees, fines, or other moneys due the state.
(c) For the purposes of this subsection (25), "insufficient funds" means not having a sufficient balance in account with a bank or other drawee for the payment of a check when presented for payment within thirty days after issue.
(d) The penalty provided for in this subsection (25) shall be assessed inaddition to any other penalties provided by law except for the penalty provided in section 24-35-114 relating to checks issued to the department of revenue.
(26) The controller shall promulgate equitable fiscal rules concerning travel policies applicable to state employees, including methods of transportation, travel advances, reimbursements, travel allowances, use of travel agents, and use of state or privately owned vehicles, and may promulgate such rules for the implementation of a state travel policy as he deems necessary to assure fair and reasonable expenditures.
(27) To avoid the imposition of duplicative or excessively burdensome or numerous reporting requirements upon state-supported institutions of higher education and to encourage the promulgation of reporting rules that, to the extent possible, require such institutions to provide only data and reports readily accessible to or presently generated by such institutions, the controller shall consult with the Colorado commission on higher education before adopting, amending, or repealing rules affecting or creating reporting requirements applicable to such institutions.
