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Abandoned Property: Any equipment or materials left unclaimed and identified for disposal by Police Services. 

Computing Devices: Machines used to acquire, store, analyze, process, and publish data and other information electronically, including accessories (or “peripherals”) for printing, transmitting and receiving, or storing electronic information.

Managing Department: The university organizational unit that controls and manages the use of the surplus property or materials on behalf of the university. 

Movable Equipment: Tangible, non-expendable, personal property that has an anticipated useful life of one year or more with an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more.

Surplus Property: Any equipment, furniture, scrap or salvaged materials, or other tangible property that is no longer needed by the Managing Department, regardless of its existing condition,  estimated value or original ownership.

University Property: Any property or materials purchased with university funds or with grant funds, donated to the University, or acquired for the university through other means.

Department chairs, directors, or their designees may declare property that is no longer useful to their department as “surplus.” Managing Departments are first encouraged to do one of the following before transferring property to the Surplus Property Program: 

1. Transfer the property inter-departmentally within the university; or
2. Trade in the property toward the purchase of new property; 
3.  or Transfer the property to another institution. This requires prior approval from the Controller. 

The University Controller’s Office and the Surplus Property Program Manager must be notified in advance if the above transactions occur. In the event of transfers out of the United States, export restrictions may apply and permits must be obtained prior to transfer.

Any surplus property that is not handled through trade-in or transfer of ownership must be sent to the Surplus Property Program. Departments must submit a  request using the university’s Planon system to request pick-up of surplus items. Before pick-up, the Managing Department must ensure that all items are empty of contents (e.g., paper files and personal belongings) and in clean condition. Departments must arrange for removal of all property, furnishings and equipment prior to vacating offices and facilities. Departments will be charged a handling fee for removal of surplus property from their premises. 

The Surplus Property Program manager and Custodial Services staff will remove surplus property from the Managing Department premises using either internal or contracted labor and will determine the method by which surplus property will be handled. Usable property will be transferred to a university surplus facility. Departments are not allowed to deliver or haul surplus property without the pre-approval of or pre-arrangement with the Surplus Property Program Manager. 

Departments not located on the main campus must consult with the Surplus Property Program and the Controller’s office to determine the best methods of disposal and/or transportation to the university main campus in Burlington.

Items with an acquisition value greater than $5,000 must also be accompanied by a Surplus Disposal Form. The Managing Department must indicate the Planon request generated by Planon, Inventory Asset Tag Number, location and description of the item on this form. After removal of the item, the CSD supervisor will forward the original form to the Financial and Cost Accounting Services office.

Laboratory equipment and items such as research refrigerators, minus-80 freezers, centrifuges, sterilizers, blood counters, photo spectrometers, and similar equipment may contain hazardous components such as refrigerant, mercury switches, and batteries, and/or may be contaminated with other hazardous materials. Individual departments must certify that these items, regardless of value, have been properly, and in compliance with legal requirements, emptied, cleaned, and decontaminated for safe disposal, transfer, or resale (contact the university’s Environmental Health and Safety Department with any questions). Individual departments are responsible for the cost of removal of any imbedded hazardous materials; ����̽̽ Technical Services Program offers this service. Departments document the removal of hazardous materials using the Surplus Disposal Form which they attach, when completed, to the surplus item.

After the Department has submitted the form, Surplus Property personnel will consult and coordinate with the Environmental Health and Safety Department to certify that all equipment is properly decontaminated and safe for disposal. 

Managing Departments are encouraged to first do one of the following: 

1. Transfer the vehicle inter-departmentally within the university.
2. Trade in the vehicle within market value toward the purchase of new one

If neither of the above occurs, disposal of motor vehicles becomes the responsibility of the Surplus Property Program in coordination with Purchasing Services. Managing Departments must follow the checklist of procedures for sending motor vehicles to surplus. Proceeds from the sales of vehicles, trailers, boats, etc., through auction, private sale, or any other format will be retained by the owning department minus any administrative costs. 

See Information Security Procedures: Disposition of University Computers

The Surplus Property Program will determine the method by which surplus property will be disposed. Items may be sold to university departments or to the general public, recycled, scrapped, donated to non-profit organizations, or given away at no cost as an alternative to landfill disposal. Items will be sold at the discretion of the Surplus Property Program via public sales, sealed bids or online auctions.

With prior approval by the Recycling Program Manager, a department may donate surplus property directly to a non-profit organization. The University Controller must approve the donation of movable equipment and motor vehicles with acquisition cost greater than $5,000 and be provided with proof of the 501(c)(3) status of recipient.

All sales transactions will be accompanied by a two-part sales receipt, with one copy issued to the purchaser and the original retained by the Surplus Property Program. University employees are eligible to purchase surplus property only if the ownership of the property is first transferred to the Surplus Property Program. All transactions, including the collection of appropriate taxes and issuance of a sales receipt, must be conducted by Surplus Property Program personnel. In the case of computing devices, the University department must ensure that the disk is erased and the operating system (or current version, if appropriately licensed) is reinstalled prior to sale, review Section VI and  for additional details. Valuation of surplus computing devices for the purpose of sale is at the sole discretion of the Recycling Program Manager. Under no circumstances shall a University department sell surplus property directly to an individual or employee, except as noted in Section VIII. 

All proceeds from the sale of surplus property, except motor vehicles, are retained by the Surplus Property Program to offset operating expenses of the program (e.g., hauling, labor, vehicle use, utilities, advertising costs, disposal of unsold property, etc.). Departments will receive revenues less administrative and disposal costs incurred by the Surplus Property Program for motor vehicles sales as well as additional items on a case-by-case basis. For non-motor vehicles sales, Managing Departments will not receive any portion of revenues.

All sales are subject to State of Vermont sales tax and City of Burlington local option sales tax, unless proof of Sales Tax Exemption Status is provided by the purchaser. All sales are in checks payable to ����̽̽. For sales exceeding $1,000, a certified, or cashier’s check payable to ����̽̽ is required. University departments may purchase items for their departmental use through an inter-departmental chartstring charge. 

Departments owning items that are considered “unique” (e.g., musical instruments, athletic uniforms, sports equipment, police equipment, artwork, historical treasures, etc.) may be granted permission by the Controller to sell items on their own, with prior written approval of the Surplus Property Program Manager. In these instances, the Managing Department is responsible for all aspects of the sale including advertising, invoicing, collection of appropriate sales tax, issuance of a sales receipt, and deposit of the proceeds in appropriate University accounts. If assistance is needed by the Surplus Property Manager a portion of the proceeds will be retained to cover administrative costs where applicable.

With the approval of the Surplus Property Program and the University Controller, the Managing Department may sell surplus items with an estimated resale value greater than $1,000 directly to a business, organization, or individual. In these instances, the Managing Department may retain the proceeds of the sale; however, the department is responsible for all aspects of the sale including advertising, soliciting bids, delivery, invoicing, collection of appropriate sales tax, issuance of a sales receipt, and depositing proceeds in appropriate University accounts.

Relinquishment is the formal process of ending a grant at the university so it may be transferred to another institution. Equipment purchased on relinquished grants may be transferred to the new institution, as well. The procedure for relinquishing equipment purchased from grants is maintained by Sponsored Project Administration.

Unauthorized sale, removal, disposal, or expropriation of University Property or Surplus Property is considered theft and constitutes a serious breach of university policy. Unauthorized disposition could subject individuals to disciplinary action, including but not limited to dismissal, or criminal prosecution. For represented employees, provisions of any applicable collective bargaining agreement will apply.

This policy does not affect the Residential Life Department’s protocol for abandoned bikes. This only pertains to academiccampus buildings, including the Davis Center. 

If a bike is identified by Police Services as abandoned the ����̽̽ Recycling Program will cut bicycle locks (when necessary), take possession of the bike and transport it to the surplus property facility. In all instances Police Services provides the directive to cut locks and/or remove bikes. Police Services will take into their possession bikes that are NOT locked up and determined by Police Services officers to be abandoned. A 30-day waiting period applies after which bikes will be transferred to the Surplus Property Program. Bikes collected from the Davis Center will be turned over to the Surplus Property Program.