South Carolina § 2-47-50 - Establishment of permanent improvement projects by authority; review of proposed revisions; "permanent improvement project" defined.

§ 2-47-50. Establishment of permanent improvement projects by authority; review of proposed revisions; "permanent improvement project" defined.

(A) The authority shall establish formally each permanent improvement project before actions of any sort which implement the project in any way may be undertaken and no expenditure of any funds for any services or for any other project purpose contracted for, delivered, or otherwise provided prior to the date of the formal action of the authority to establish the project shall be approved. State agencies and institutions may advertise and interview for project architectural and engineering services for a pending project so long as the architectural and engineering contract is not awarded until after a state project number is assigned. After the committee has reviewed the form to be used to request the establishment of permanent improvement projects and has reviewed the time schedule for considering such requests as proposed by the authority, requests to establish permanent improvement projects shall be made in such form and at such times as the authority may require.

(B) Any proposal to finance all or any part of any project using any funds not previously authorized specifically for the project by the General Assembly or using any funds not previously approved for the project by the authority and reviewed by the committee shall be referred to the committee for review prior to approval by the authority.

(C) Any proposed revision of the scope or of the budget of an established permanent improvement project deemed by the authority to be substantial shall be referred to the committee for its review prior to any final action by the authority. In making their determinations regarding changes in project scope, the authority, and the committee shall utilize the permanent improvement project proposal and justification statements, together with any supporting documentation, considered at the time the project was authorized or established originally. Any proposal to increase the budget of a previously approved project using any funds not previously approved for the project by the authority and reviewed by the committee shall in all cases be deemed to be a substantial revision of a project budget which shall be referred to the committee for review. The committee shall be advised promptly of all actions taken by the authority which approve revisions in the scope of or the budget of any previously established permanent improvement project not deemed substantial by the authority.

(D) For purposes of this chapter, a permanent improvement or a permanent improvement project is any improvement meeting the definition of a capital improvement under generally accepted accounting principles including, without limitation:

(1) acquisition of land;

(2) acquisition, as opposed to the construction, of buildings or other structures;

(3) capital lease purchase of any facility acquisition or construction;

(4) new construction;

(5) work on existing facilities including their renovation, repair, maintenance, alteration, or demolition;

(6) architectural and engineering and other types of planning and design work that is intended to result in a permanent improvement project; excluding, however, master plans and feasibility studies;

(7) equipment that either becomes a permanent fixture of a facility or does not become permanent but is included in the construction contract; and

(8) any project authorized by the General Assembly including, without limitation, any project funded by appropriated capital improvement bond funds, capital reserve funds, state appropriated funds, or state infrastructure bond funds.

(E) Any capital improvement that meets the above definition must be established as a permanent improvement project in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, regardless of the source of funds.

HISTORY: 1980 Act No. 518, SECTION 11; 1993 Act No. 178, SECTION 4; 2004 Act No. 187, SECTION 10, eff March 17, 2004; 2005 Act No. 143, SECTION 3, eff June 7, 2005; 2011 Act No. 74, Pt IV, SECTION 4, eff August 1, 2011; 2014 Act No. 121 (S.22), Pt VII, SECTION 18.B, eff July 1, 2015; 2024 Act No. 214 (S.314), SECTION 2, eff July 2, 2024.

Effect of Amendment

The 2004 amendment added the fourth undesignated paragraph containing items (1) through (6) and the fifth undesignated paragraph relating to the status of projects that meet the definition of permanent improvement project.

The 2005 amendment reprinted the fourth and fifth undesignated paragraphs no apparent change.

The 2011 amendment, in the fourth undesignated paragraph, in subparagraph (1), inserted ", with staff level review of the committee and the Budget and Control Board, Capital Budget Office, up to two hundred fifty thousand dollars", in subparagraph (2), inserted ", with staff level review of the committee and the Budget and Control Board, Capital Budget Office, up to two hundred fifty thousand dollars", in subparagraph (3), deleted "construction of additional facilities and" from the beginning, and substituted "one million" for "five hundred thousand", in subparagraph (5), substituted "in which the total cost is one million dollars or more;" for "and", in subparagraph (6), added "in which the total cost is one million dollars or more; and", and added subparagraph (7); and added the last undesignated paragraph relating to Clemson-PSA and SC State-PSA.

2014 Act No. 121, SECTION 18.B, added the subsection designators; substituted "authority" for "board" throughout; and in subsections (D)(1) and (D)(2), substituted "State Fiscal Accountability Authority" for "Budget and Control Board, Capital Budget Office".

2024 Act No. 214, SECTION 2, rewrote (D) and (E), and deleted (F), which provided that, for purposes of establishing permanent improvement projects, Clemson University Public Service Activities and South Carolina State University Public Service Activities were subject to the provisions of this chapter.