For the E-rate funding year July 1 2010 – June 30 2011 (FY 2010), Kansas public libraries were approved for Priority 1 E-rate discounts (telecommunications/internet access) totaling $280,144.46. As of October 28, the unclaimed portion of these funds is $222,685.00. Only 21% of these E-rate dollars have been applied to invoices or reimbursed to libraries.
In order to see the status of your FY 2010 funding:
- Go to http://www.sl.universalservice.org/funding/opendatasearch/Search1.asp
- Select Funding Year 2010
- Enter your library’s Billed Entity Number (BEN). If you don’t know your number, search for it at http://www.sl.universalservice.org/Utilities/BilledEntitySearch_Public.asp
- Scroll down and click “Select Standard Report”
- Open and/or save the file as an Excel spreadsheet
- The total of column I is the amount awarded. Subtract column J to find out how much you have unclaimed.
Why are committed funds not disbursed?
Most funds go unused because of problems with the “Invoicing Mode” – E-rate’s instructions on how to pay out. Recipients can choose (at the time of filing Form 486 to start the process “Service Provider Invoicing” (Your provider calculates the discount, bills you for your share and bills E-rate for the rest) or “Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement” a.k.a. “BEAR form” (Provider bills you for the total amount and you request the discount portion from E-rate).
If you are invoiced only for the discounted portion of services, notify your provider that there are unclaimed FY 2010 funds attached to your BEN. If you are invoiced the full amount, check your E-rate files to see if and when you submitted BEAR forms for reimbursement. Help is available from the Kansas E-rate hotline (866.372.8302) Libraries which are customers of E-rate Solutions: Contact your account manager.
Every dollar counts in tough times – don’t leave money on the table!