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PY3 Funding Status
Wave Twenty-eight of Funding Commitment Decisions Letters ("FCDLs"), mailed on
Friday, November 17, totals $15.3 million, including $8.4 million for NYS
applicants. The funding threshold for internal connection services
remains at 82%.
Cumulatively, through Wave Twenty-eight, the SLD has awarded funding on over
26,240 applications totaling $2.095 billion in discounts. This includes
$267 million for NYS applicants, over one-eighth of the national total.
The SLD currently expects that there will be one more regular funding wave the
week after Thanksgiving. Remaining applications may be funded thereafter
at irregular intervals in small "ripples."
PY2 BEAR filing deadline
Schools and libraries that have not yet filed BEAR their reimbursement forms
for services used and billed during the second program year ending June 30,
2000, should do so as soon as possible. Although the SLD's deadline for
BEAR submissions was November 20, this was a date by which forms had to be
received to guarantee payment; BEARs will still be accepted after this date and
processed as time permits.
E-Rate Central estimates that there is at least a 90% chance that BEARs
received within the following week will be processed for payment.
Applicants should assume that the reimbursement probability drops by 10-20% per
week thereafter.
The November 20 BEAR deadline does not apply to PY2 funding requests that were
received late in the program year (on or after April 4, 2000) or were otherwise
delayed (e.g., by appeals or SPIN changes).
Installation Charges vs. "Advance Payments"
An interesting appeal decision by the FCC, adopted on September 25, concerns
E-rate funding for large, advanced, non-recurring payments on multi-year
contracts. The decision arose from a funding request by Brooklyn Library
for a large ATM telecommunications network. The service itself, that is
clearly eligible, was being provided under a five-year contract that required a
substantial ($12.6M) up front charge to cover the major portion of the
carrier's initial network investment.
While normal installation charges can be discounted in the year that service is
initiated, the FCC noted that the E-rate program "did not envision providing
support to significantly fund the backbone of a provider's network." To
do so risks creating a "critical drain" on program resources. Rather than
fund the charge in one year, therefore, the FCC directed the SLD to reevaluate
the request and to prorate the non-recurring charges over a term of at least
three years.
The FCC's decision in this case does not set firm guidelines to distinguish
between typical installation charges, that can be fully discounted in one year,
and "advance payments," that must be amortized over three or more years.
It does appear, however, to establish two characteristics of the latter, namely
that the "advance payment" is (a) large in absolute dollar terms, and (b)
"vastly exceeds the monthly recurring charge."
A full copy of the FCC's Brooklyn Library decision can be accessed in the
FCC Decision Section of the E-Rate Central site.
Thanksgiving Week Schedule
The SLD announced that the Client Service Bureau help line (888-203-8100) will
be closed Thanksgiving week on both Thursday and Friday. As indicated
above, no new funding wave will be issued during the week.
In keeping with this reduced level of activity, E-Rate Central plans to skip
the next Weekly News unless important new program information is released.
Additional NYS Training Session for Orange/Rockland Counties
In response to multiple requests for an E-rate training session in the
Catskill/Hudson Valley area, E-Rate Central will conduct a half-day workshop
for schools and libraries at:
9:00 - 12:00, Tuesday, November 28
Ramapo Catskill Library System building
619 Route 17M
Middletown, NY 10940
845-343-1131
Libraries wishing to attend should register with Jerry Kuntz at the number
above (or jkuntz@rcls.org).
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