Welcome!

Welcome to the first blog for e-rate for Tennessee’s public libraries!  I am Jennifer Cowan-Henderson, state e-rate coordinator for public libraries in Tennessee.  My goal is to help as much as possible to ensure that you not only get funded, but that you receive your reimbursements.

While I will still be continuing to post on both the TLA and TN_Libraries listservs, I will be updating information here as well, so there is a central place for an applicant to find answers.  Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have an e-rate question – that’s why I’m here.

If you have suggestions of files or links to post, please let me know.  As I receive questions, I plan to create a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page as well.

So feel free to look around, use what you can, and hopefully I can help in making e-rate as painless of a procedure as possible.

2010 Windows opens

The filing window has opened for the Form 471 for Funding Year 2010.  The window opened on Thursday, December 3, 2009, and it will close on Thursday, February 11, 2010. 

This filing window deadline also allows the deadline for filing your Form 470 to be set for Thursday, January 14, 2010.  This deadline can be set, since Form 470 must be filed and allow for a minimum of 28 days between the filing of Form 470 and Form 471.

You can either file Form 471 via paper or online.  I would recommend online.  This is also the form where you will need exact bill amounts.  I would recommend that you find your highest bill for each service from the last year or two.  That way you can ask for 12 months worth of possible reimbursement from your highest bill, and not lose out on not asking for enough.  I would also recommend that you make a copy of the bills that you use for Form 471 and keep them with your other 2010 documentation.

Happy filing!

BEAR (Form 472) reminder

Just a reminder that you have until October 29th to get in your Form 472 reimbursement forms to the SLD.  You can either file online or via paper, just keep the following in mind:

1. You will have to file a separate Form 472 for each service provider that you have.
2. You can combine all services from the same service provider onto the same Form 472, if you want to.
3. A representative from each service provider will have to sign your form and send it back to you before you can send it to the SLD.
4. Replace your blank page 4 with the one that is signed by your service provider before you mail it to the SLD.

If you file online, don’t forget to contact your service provider so they will know to go online and review and approve your form.  If it is not approved by your service provider within 15 days, your Form 472 will be deleted by the SLD, and you will have to file another one.

It’s Form 472 time!

Yay the time for e-rate reimbursement is here for Fiscal Year 2008/2009!  Now is the time to either file your Form 472 (BEAR) online or via paper.  I still prefer the paper form, so I don’t get caught in the 15-day deadline for my service provider to validate the online form.  But that’s just me.

The deadline for this form is October 29th.

I think that I will post updates to the contact information for the Service Provider’s here for now.  So here’s the first:

Citizens Communications (Frontier)
SPIN: 143001645
Contact Name: Jessica Matushek
Contact Phone: 570-631-5003
Contact Fax (to send 472): 570-631-8026

What if I haven’t gotten a letter yet?

If you haven’t been in a wave yet, don’t worry – there will be a lot more waves to come.

What you can do, however, is go through your e-mail and make sure that you haven’t overlooked a message from the Program Integrity Assurance (PIA).  If they have contacted you, then essentially your form is being held and will not progress any further without information from you.

You can also check on the status of your Form 471, if you want to.  It changes frequently as it goes from department to department in the SLD.  I wouldn’t get into the habit of checking it daily, but every once in a while wouldn’t be a bad idea. 

How to check the status of your Form 471:

1. Go to http://www.universalservice.org/sl
2. Click on Apply Online (on the left)
3. Under Form 471, click on Application Status
4. Type in your Billed Entity Number and click Search
5. On the next screen click Continue

At the top of this page will give you your status, and then the explanations of what the status means below.

What’s next after the Letter Comes?

If you have already received (or are in the next wave to receive) your Funding Commitment Decision Letter (FCDL), congratulations!  Once you receive your FCDL you will be ready for the next phase in the E-rate cycle – Form 486!

Form 486 is an easy form – all that you need is on your FCDL.  This form is just to verify that what you requested discounts on with your Form 471 are services that you are still interested in.  I call this the “yes, this is what I really want” form.

As will almost all the forms, I recommend that this one be done online.

Form 486 has a deadline of either 120 days of the date on your FCDL or your service start date, whichever is later.  So if your later date is July 1st, then your deadline date is October 28th.

FCC Registration Numbers

While there is no where on any of the E-rate forms to put your FCC Registration number for your library, I would still recommend that you put them somewhere.

It is not mandatory for you to put in down, but it will expedite things, since the PIA will call you and ask you for it if you don’t put it somewhere.

I recommend putting it on your Form 472, either as a header, if you submit it via paper, or in the Notes if you submit online.

For those of you who may not know your FCC Registration Number, I have added a link under General Information so you can search the FCC database for your number.  Just use the drop down list and seach by Business Name.

Deadline fast approaching

The deadline for filing your Form 471 is quickly approaching.  Thursday, February 12th is the deadline for filing your Form 471.

Form 471 Deadline Reminder

Just a reminder that the deadline to submit and certify your Form 471 is Thursday, February 12, 2009. 

Links to the information that you need are to the right of this post.

Form 471

It may be time for the next E-rate form for you – Form 471.  This form is the one that will have specific amounts and service providers.  I call this form “this is what I actually want” form.

Please keep in mind that you have to wait a minimum of 28 days between filing your From 470 and Form 471.  Your Form 470 Receipt Notification Letter will tell you the first day that you will be able to file your Form 471.

What you need for Form 471:

• The highest bill you have from the past two years for each service
• Your Free and Reduced Lunch Statistics (link to the right, under Discount Data)
• Your FSCS number
• Your FCC registration number

To the  right is a Discount Worksheet to help you determine your discount percentage.  I would recommend that you print off your school district’s Lunch data as well as your worksheet and file them with the rest of Funding Year 2009.

The reason that I recommend that you have your highest bill is that you will have some cushion if your rates go up.  What you do is multiply your highest bill by 12 for an annual amount.  Having your bill on file is also great if you are contacted to verify your amount.  If you just estimated your bill amount without any documentation, then you run the risk of the total requested amount being decreased or denied.  I would recommend always being able to back up your data.

I put my FCC registration number on each of my Item 21 attachments.   Since I do my attachments online, I input my FSCS number in Part 4, under Notes.  I just put “The FCC regisrtation number for X library is xxx>”

You will also need your FSCS number for your library.  The link for that is under SLD Form Data and is called FSCS Code.

I would recommend that you submit this form as soon as you can.  The sooner you get it in, the sooner they will begin to review it, and hopefully the sooner you will be approved and get your Funding Commitment Decision Letter.

Questions added to FAQ

If you’ve noticed, there is a tab at the top of the page entitled FAQ.  It’s been empty for a while, but for no longer!  I’ve added some basic questions based on questions that I have received over the years.

If you have any questions that you would like added, leave a comment, and let me know.  I’ll even make them anonymous, if you like.