{"id":35679,"date":"2024-09-16T21:07:09","date_gmt":"2024-09-17T01:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?p=35679"},"modified":"2024-09-22T16:42:43","modified_gmt":"2024-09-22T20:42:43","slug":"category-2-budgets-whats-remaining-for-your-school-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?p=35679","title":{"rendered":"Category 2 Budgets:\u00a0 What\u2019s Remaining for Your School\/Library"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

September 16, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attached: Remaining-C2-Budgets-as-of-Sept-16-2024-2.xlsx<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attached: Undisbursed-C2-Funds-to-Possibly-Return-as-of-Sept-16-2024.xlsx<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attached: C2-Budget-Management-Guide.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attached: C2-FRN-Line-Item-Data-FY-2021-2024-1.xlsx<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

~ Tips on how to possibly increase remaining funds explained ~<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current Category 2 Budget Cycle covers five E-rate funding years \u2013 2021 \u2013 2025, making FY 2025 the final year to use your remaining C2 funds.  No unused funding from this budget cycle will carry forward to the next C2 budget cycle.  We do not yet know how much funding each school and library will receive in the next cycle.  I know many of you still have Category 2 funding remaining to use for FY 2025 but are unsure of the amount. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remaining Uncommitted C2 Budget Amount<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please open the attached \u201cRemaining C2 Budgets<\/strong>\u201d file.  This file shows the original, total<\/em> available Category 2 funding for this C2 budget cycle, what has been committed<\/em> thus far, and the remaining C2 budget pre-discount amount<\/strong> (last column).  These are all pre-discount amounts, with the last column being the most important.  In all, more than $200 million Category 2 funding remains to be used by PA applicants in FY 2025.   (This data was obtained from USAC\u2019s Open Data Tool:  https:\/\/opendata.usac.org\/E-Rate\/E-Rate-C2-Budget-Tool-FY2021-\/8z69-hkn7<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ways to Potentially Increase This Amount<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This remaining amount may not be ALL of the funds that you have available.  Here are two steps you can take to potentially increase your Category 2 budget for FY 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Increased Enrollment or Square Footage:<\/strong>  In the same file (Remaining C2 Budgets<\/strong>), review the Full Time Students (column D) or Library Square Footage (column F).  If your school enrollment or library square footage has increased, you should update this data in your EPC profile under Category 2 Budget and then request a C2 Budget Recalculation.  > EPC Landing Page > District Name > Manage Organization > Scroll to the bottom of the page.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    — If your enrollment or square footage decreased, do nothing as your starting C2 budget cannot decrease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. Return Unused Funds:<\/strong>  In the second file \u201cUndisbursed C2 Funds\u201d, follow these steps if your school or library is listed in this file.\n
        \n
      1. Look at column K – FRN Remaining Amount<\/strong> (post-discount).  This amount shows the difference between what was committed for an FRN (between FY 2021 \u2013 FY 2024), but was not or has not yet been utilized.  Basically, this means that you were committed more than you or your service provider were or have been reimbursed by USAC.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      2. Next, look at column G \u2013 Invoice Deadline<\/strong>.  If it shows \u201cDeadline Passed\u201d it means the FRN has expired and you can file a Form 500 to cancel the remaining funding on the FRN.  If it shows a date, it means the invoice deadline has not yet passed and so if you received the equipment or service, you (or your service provider) still have time to invoice USAC.  Deadline to receive FY 2023 equipment is 9\/30\/2024 and deadline to receive FY 2024 equipment is 9\/30\/2025.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      3. If you want to cancel the remaining funding on an FRN, you must file a Form 500 to do so.  As soon as the Form 500 has been reviewed\/approved by USAC, the cancelled amount will be returned to your Category 2 budget and no additional steps must be taken by you to reinstate these funds.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      4. Important notes:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        \u2013 The figures in this file show what was disbursed which is post-discount.  C2 budgets are pre-discount<\/em> amounts, so I\u2019ve calculated in the final column (L) what is the pre-discount amount<\/em> of the undisbursed amount.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        — There is no requirement to return unused funds and certainly if a small amount remains or if you do not intend to apply for C2 funding in FY 2025, it will not be worth your time to cancel the unused commitments.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        — This file includes FY 2021 \u2013 FY 2024 data.  I only included FY 2024 data where some funding has been disbursed because many of you have not yet purchased your FY 2024 C2 approved equipment.  But if you do not need any or all of your committed FY 2024 funding, please use the Form 500 to return those funds as described below.  PLEASE BE SURE NOT TO CANCEL ANY FY 2023 OR FY 2024 FUNDING IF YOU HAVE PURCHASED OR WILL BE PURCHASING THE EQUIPMENT BY THE DEADLINE LISTED IN b. OF THIS SECTION.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Filing a Form 500 to Cancel Remaining Funding<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        The Form 500 is used for multiple purposes, but in this case, you will want to select the option that says \u201cI want to partially reduce the funding in one or more of the FRNs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Unfortunately, there is no way to just check a box to say \u201ccancel remaining funds.\u201d   The system will require you to determine which FRN Line Items you did not use (or only partially used) and then reduce the quantity of that line item.  The attached \u201cCategory 2 Management Guide<\/strong>\u201d provides helpful step-by-step instructions to demonstrate how to access these screens and navigate through the Form 500.   Notes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n