E-rate Year 4 BEAR/SPIF Deadline for Recurring Services is 10/28/02
PA has $16.7 million remaining to be collected for recurring services (and an additional $16.1 million for internal connections).
Message Posted September 20, 2002
Applicants and service providers only have until October 28, 2002 to file Form 472s (BEARs for applicants) or Form 474 (SPIFs for service providers) to collect Year 4 (2001 - 2002) funding for recurring services. Unlike previous years where you had until the beginning of the following year, the SLD now has strict rules on how long you have to submit your invoices. And please don't wait until the end of October to complete and file your BEARs... sometimes it is very difficult getting service provider signatures on the BEARs.
The official deadline policy is as follows: Invoices (BEARs or SPIFs) must be POSTMARKED no later than:
- 120 days after the last date to receive service (which is June 30 for recurring services) or
- 120 days after the date of the Form 486 Notification Letter (in case you received your 486 RNL late), whichever is later.
If an invoice is postmarked after the deadlines listed above, payment will be denied (unless you have been granted an extension -- details below).
The SLD will base the billing mode (reimbursement or discounting) on the first invoice type that it processed for payment. Meaning, if you submitted a BEAR for that particular FRN sometime during the funding year, then the remaining invoices must be via BEAR.
Reminder, although the SLD intends to make this form available to submit online very soon, it hasn't happened yet and therefore you must print and file MANUALLY. The form is available at: www.sl.universalservice.org/form/.
What About Non-Recurring Services (installation or internal connections?)
Applicants have until September 30, 2002 to complete their non-recurring services for Year 4. Thus, the deadline for those BEARs/SPIFs is January 27, 2003 (120 days after Sept. 30). And there is an additional $16.1 million that has yet to be collected for these services (in addition to the $16.7 million for recurring services).
Invoice Deadline Extension Requests
The SLD provides for the extension of invoice deadlines under certain conditions. These conditions include:
Authorized service provider changes,
Authorized service substitutions,
No timely SLD notice (e.g., the service provider's Form 486 Notification Letter is returned to the SLD as undeliverable),
SLD errors (for example, in the data entry of a form) that ultimately result in a late invoice, SLD delays in data entering a form that ultimately result in a late invoice,
Documentation requirements that necessitate third party contact or certification (when a vendor won't sign a BEAR, for example),
Natural or man-made disasters that prevent timely filing of invoices,
Good Samaritan BEARs, and
Circumstances beyond the service provider's control.
To request an invoice deadline extension, send a letter to the SLD detailing your request and including the following information:
Contact Person name
Contact Information (including e-mail address)
Form 471 Application Number
Funding Request Number (FRN)
Service Provider Name
Service Provider Identification Number (SPIN)
SLC Invoice Number (If known)
Amount of Invoice
Reason for Invoice Deadline Extension request
Send your letter to the following address:
Invoice Deadline Extension Request
Schools and Libraries Division
Box 125 - Correspondence Unit
80 South Jefferson Road
Whippany, NJ 07981
If you have any questions about the Year 4 Invoice Deadlines, please contact
me at jtschell@comcast.net
Julie Tritt Schell
jtschell@comcast.net
(717) 730.7133 (voice)
(717) 730.9060 (fax)
| 
