The filing window for the 2005 E-rate funding year opened at noon today. Schools and libraries will have between now and 11:59 EST on February 17, 2005 to complete the submission and certification of their Form 471 applications for the E-rate funding year that will start on July 1, 2005.
Applicants are permitted to post Form 470 applications, describing the types of products and services they wish to procure, at any time of year. However, this application must be posted for at least 28 days on the Web site of the Schools and Libraries Division before an applicant can choose a vendor, sign a contract and then submit its related Form 471 application. In recent months, the Schools and Libraries Division has stressed that applicants are expected to have a contract in place, signed and dated by both parties, before the pertinent Form 471 application is submitted.
A new Form 471 application for the 2005 funding year has been integrated into the SLD's online filing mechanism at http://www.sl.universalservice.org/menu.asp It is expected that the new form also will soon be made available in a downloadable pdf format.
