August 25, 2014<\/p>\n
~ List of Possible Affected Entities Attached<\/a> ~ The 2013 Funding Year ended June 30, 2014 for recurring services.\u00a0 If you paid your vendor invoices in full (didn’t receive discounted bills), the deadline to submit the Form 472 — BEAR — to USAC is October 28, 2014.\u00a0 I’ve attached a list of FRNs where no disbursements have been made yet (either to vendors or applicants), which likely means these schools or libraries must submit BEARs for those FRNs.\u00a0 Not included in this list are entities that have already filed BEARs for any or all of FY 2013 (and where USAC has already authorized disbursement).<\/p>\n Unlike last year when USAC granted an automatic 1-year extension of all invoices, they will NOT be doing so this year.\u00a0 Thus all invoices must be submitted on or before October 28, 2014.<\/p>\n A few of the FRNs on the attached spreadsheet are highlighted, showing that a Form 486 was not submitted for FY 2013.\u00a0 Affected applicants should file the Form 486 online ASAP (realizing that some of the E-rate funding may be lost) or, if the applicant does not need the funding request, should file a Form 500 to cancel the FRN.<\/p>\n A few important Q & A’s:<\/p>\n 1) Can I complete the BEAR online?<\/strong> 2) Can I put all of my reimbursement requests on a single BEAR?<\/strong> 3) Am I required to have the provider sign the BEAR?<\/strong> Also, make sure the service provider signs the last<\/em> page of the paper BEAR — the Service Provider Certification Page — and not the Applicant Certification Page which looks very similar. Also make certain that the provider includes the date beside their signature; dates are considered a minimum processing standard.<\/p>\n 4) I was committed more funding than I actually spent. Can I request reimbursement for the full amount that was originally committed?<\/strong> 5) I spent more than what was committed on my funding commitment letter (my cap). What should I list on my BEAR — the cap or the actual amount spent?<\/strong> 6) When will I receive my BEAR reimbursement check?<\/strong> 8) What if I actually received a slightly different service than what was originally listed on my Item 21 attachments? 9)\u00a0 What should I do if I didn’t use the service?<\/strong> 10)\u00a0 What does it mean under the Form 486 Filed Column indicates, “No – Take Action ASAP”?<\/strong> If you have any questions about the FY 2013 Invoice Deadlines or completing the BEAR, please contact me at jtschell@comcast.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n — Julie 717-730-7133 – o
\n~ Online BEAR Instructions Attached<\/a> ~<\/p>\n
\nA. Yes!\u00a0 The BEAR Form — 472 — can be submitted electronically to the SLD — if<\/strong> your service provider is accepting Online BEARs and if you have an E-rate PIN.\u00a0 Information regarding the Online BEAR will be sent to the listserve tomorrow.\u00a0 If you cannot file online or choose not to, you can complete the Form 472 online using the PDF format, print it, and then mail it to the SLD (after getting the service provider to\u00a0counter-sign, of course). The paper BEAR is located at: http:\/\/www.universalservice.org\/_res\/documents\/sl\/pdf\/forms\/472.pdf<\/a> under Form 472.\u00a0 The Online BEAR can be filed at https:\/\/www2.sl.universalservice.org\/bear\/login.aspx<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nA. No, a separate BEAR must be completed for each provider. For example, if you have 2 FRNs that list\u00a0Comcast, and one FRN that is for AT&T, you can submit both Verizon FRN reimbursement requests on a single BEAR, and submit the AT&T reimbursement request on a separate BEAR.<\/p>\n
\nA. Yes and No.\u00a0 You need the service provider’s signature on the PAPER BEAR Form before you submit it to the SLD.\u00a0 For the Online BEAR, the completed form will automatically be transmitted to the service provider for their electronic signature and then automatically filed with USAC.\u00a0 No separate signature is needed. To find the fax number of your service provider to have them sign the PAPER BEAR, use the SLD’s SPIN search database (http:\/\/www.sl.universalservice.org\/Forms\/SPIN_Contact_Search.asp<\/a>) and call the number listed.<\/p>\n
\nA. No. Applicants\u00a0may only seek reimbursement for the exact amount paid for the service instead of just listing the full funding cap (for example, if you were committed $10,000, but then only spent $6,000, you can only request E-rate reimbursements based on the $6000). \u00a0Please know that the SLD has increasingly been requesting copies of invoices when they review the BEARs as proof that you are requesting the accurate amount. Don’t send the invoices with the BEAR, but know they might be requested.<\/p>\n
\nThe SLD would like you to complete the BEAR with the\u00a0actual figures of what you spent for the service, and not just list your funding cap amount. For example, if you spent $10,000, and had a 50% discount, you would list $10,000 in Column 14 and $5,000 in Column 15, even if you were only committed $4,000. The reason is that the SLD would like to show how much applicants are actually spending on services and also so they know that you are not just listing the funding commitment amount (the cap), but have actually added up how much was actually spent in each of the 12 months using the actual vendor bills. Unfortunately, they will only reimburse you up to the amount that you were committed.<\/p>\n
\nA. After the SLD has reviewed and approved your BEAR, they will mail to you a BEAR Approval Letter, listing the amount of your check. Your check is mailed to your service provider\u00a0within 20 calendar days\u00a0of the date of the approval letter. Service providers are required to mail you a check for the same amount within 20 calendar days of receiving the check from the SLD. And if the\u00a0past is any indication, the BEAR Approval Letters are mostly being issued within\u00a010-20 days of their receipt at the SLD.
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\n7) What if I receive my BEAR Approval Letter and it lists that $0 was approved?<\/strong>
\nA. This typically means that there was an error made on the BEAR Form and the applicant must correct the error and resubmit to the SLD.\u00a0 Many years ago,\u00a0the SLD reached out to the applicant to correct the Form over the phone, but\u00a0no longer.\u00a0 Now the SLD will “pass zero” the BEAR (meaning they won’t fund it), but it doesn’t mean the E-rate funding is gone. It simply means that the applicant must resubmit the BEAR with corrected information and typically there is an explanation on the BEAR explaining what was incorrect to help identify the error.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>A. The SLD has increased scrutiny of the BEARs to make sure that reimbursement requests are for exactly what services were approved for on the FCDLs and Item 21 attachments. If you changed services during the 2013 funding year from what you originally listed on your Item 21 attachments, you should first seek a “correcting service substitution request” from the SLD. The instructions for submitting a service substitution can be found at: http:\/\/www.sl.universalservice.org\/reference\/ServiceSub.asp<\/a><\/p>\n
\nA.\u00a0 File a Form 500 and cancel the FRN.\u00a0 The easiest version to use is available at: http:\/\/www.e-ratecentral.com\/formsRack\/app\/Form500.asp<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nA.\u00a0 This means that a Form 486 was not filed for the FRN.\u00a0 Either the applicant forgot to file and should do so ASAP (realizing that some of the E-rate funding may be lost) or the applicant does not need the funding request and should file a Form 500 to cancel the FRN.<\/p>\n
\nJulie Tritt Schell
\nPA E-rate Coordinator<\/p>\n
\n717-730-9060 – f
\njtschell@comcast.net<\/a>
\nwww.e-ratepa.org<\/p>\n\n