[ny] Former Employee Of A Us State Agency Being Charged Full Original Purchase Price For 3-year-old Lost Monitor — Is That Enforceable?

Location: New York

I used to work remotely for a state agency in a Southern US state. I now live in New York.

When I left the agency, I returned the equipment I still had, but one monitor had been lost during a move. The agency is now demanding $254.87 for it.

The monitor was purchased in January 2023 and had been issued to me for roughly three years. The invoice they sent shows a unit price of $235.99 plus 8% sales tax, for a total of $254.87. They are asking me to reimburse the full original purchase price, including tax.

Their explanation is that because they are a state institution, lost or surplus equipment has to be reported to their Consolidated Services department using the original purchase price, and therefore they are requesting reimbursement at that amount.

I did sign a telecommuting agreement requiring me to return all agency equipment when my employment ended. However, I cannot find anything in the agreement or the policies they provided saying that a former employee must reimburse lost equipment at the original acquisition cost, rather than current value, depreciated value, or some other measure.

There is also a documentation discrepancy that I’m trying to understand. The Dell invoice they sent is for five 27-inch monitors at $235.99 each. However, their inventory record for the asset they say was assigned to me identifies it as a different model number and lists the screen size as 21.45 inches. The inventory record uses the same $235.99 cost, but I have not yet seen documentation tying that asset/serial number to one of the monitors on the invoice.

My questions are:

Can a state agency require a former employee to reimburse the full original purchase price of lost equipment after several years of use if the signed agreement does not specify that valuation method? Does a state requirement to report original acquisition cost necessarily mean that is also the amount the employee legally owes? Does the discrepancy between the monitor model in the inventory record and the model on the invoice matter if they try to collect the debt? If I dispute the amount and do not pay, what are the realistic consequences for someone now living in New York? Could they send it to collections, report it to credit bureaus, sue over roughly $255, or use any
state offset process?

Would it make sense to request the specific policy or regulation that establishes employee reimbursement at original acquisition cost, rather than merely requiring original cost to be reported internally?

I’m not disputing that I was responsible for returning agency property. I’m trying to determine whether the agency has actually established that $254.87 is the proper amount of the alleged debt.

I have copies of the invoice, inventory record, telecommuting agreement, and the policies they cited.