The USAC Schools and Libraries Committee held their Quarterly Board Meeting on October 24, 2011. During the meeting, the Committee discussed the opening and closing dates of the Funding Year 2012 Form 471 filing window, approving the SLD’s recommendation that the Form 471 window open no earlier than January 5, 2012 and remain open for approximately 70 days. This means that the Form 471 window will likely close in mid-March. The filing window dates should be made available in the coming weeks and USAC will alert stakeholders once the dates have been formally set.
Other items of note from the meeting include:
- The Committee approved three audits. The first was a random audit in which the auditors are recommending the recovery of approximately $60,000 due to non-compliance. The audited school district was not able to locate certain documentation from FY2007 including vendor bills, proof of payments, and proof of CIPA compliance. It is an E-rate requirement that applicants and vendors retain E-rate related documentation for a five year period from the last date of services rendered.
- The other two audits approved were the first two BCAP audits performed. The audits were for small applicants, and both were found compliant.
- FY2009 is 99.5 percent complete with respect to the issuance of funding commitments, and the remaining FY2010 commitments should be released by the end of this calendar year. The FCC’s Funds For Learning Order, released in August, authorized funding for compliant FY2010 Priority Two applications at all discount levels. The only other funding year in program history where all Priority Two applications could be funded was FY1999.
Note: This information is not the official minutes from the meeting, but simply notes from a Funds For Learning representative who was in attendance. The official minutes for this meeting, as well as call minutes from previous meetings, can be found here.
