On October 26, the USAC Schools & Libraries Committee held their quarterly board meeting. The Board discussed the following issues:
- The Committee approved the minutes from the July 27, 2014 meeting;
- The Committee approved the Schools and Libraries Support Mechanism 1st Quarter 2016 Programmatic Budget;
- The Committee approved the Demand Projection for the November 2, 2015 FCC Filing;
- The Committee approved 19 USAC Internal Audit Division Schools and Libraries Support Mechanism Beneficiary Audit Reports. Here are compliance issues discussed;
- Improper service substitutions
- Services invoiced were not on the eligible services list
- Failure to comply with CIPA requirements
- Beneficiary did not timely pay non-discounted portion
- Service provider bills did not support amount invoiced
- Inability to determine whether basic maintenance performed on E-rated funded equipment
- Improper transfer of equipment
- Service provider bills did not agree to contract pricing
- The SLD discussed that there is $500 million available for FY 2016 that was unused in previous years. This is a $100 million increase from the last quarter;
- The SLD will likely open the FY2016 Form 471 Filing Window in mid-January and close in mid to late March;
- The SLD processed 98% of the invoices within 30 days;
- The SLD processed 309 appeals
- The SLD processed 72.5% of the appeals within 90 days
Note: The information above are not the official minutes from the meeting, but simply notes from Funds For Learning. The official minutes for this meeting, as well as minutes from previous meetings, can be found here.