Rural County Grants

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT SERVICES
E911 Board

RULE NO.: RULE TITLE:
60FF1-5.002: Rural County Grants

NOTICE OF CHANGE

Notice is hereby given that the following changes have been made to the proposed rule in accordance with subparagraph 120.54(3)(d)1., F.S., published in Vol. 37 No. 40, October 7, 2011 issue of the Florida Administrative Weekly.

The change is in response to concerns by the Joint Administrative Procedures Committee in letters dated October 7, 2011 and October 12, 2011. The changes are as follows:

The STATEMENT OF ESTIMATED REGULATORY COST shall read as: During discussion of this rule at its Board meeting, the Board, based upon the expertise and experience of its members, determined that a Statement of Estimated Regulatory Cost (SERC) was not necessary and that these rule amendments will not require ratification by the Legislature. No person or interested party submitted additional information regarding the economic impact at that time. The Board has determined that this will not have an adverse impact on small business, or likely increase regulatory costs in excess of $200,000 in the aggregate within 1 year after implementation of the rule. Any person who wishes to provide information regarding the statement of estimated costs, or to provide a proposal for a lower regulatory cost alternative must do so in writing within 21 days of this notice.

The rule shall read as:

60FF1-5.002 Rural County Grants.

The E911 Rural County Grant program is a semi-annual grant program provided for the purpose of assisting rural counties, as defined by Section 365.172(3)(y), F.S., with the installation and maintenance of an Enhanced 911 (E911) system.

(1) Eligibility. Any Board of County Commissioners in the State of Florida, with a county population of fewer than 75,000 is eligible to apply.

(2) Definitions.

(a) “Enhanced 911” (E911): As defined by Section 365.172(3)(i), Florida Statutes, and as referenced in the State E911 Plan under Section 365.171, Florida Statutes.

(b) “E911 Maintenance”: Means the preventative, routine and emergency maintenance required by the State E911 Plan, in order to maintain the E911 System in operable working condition.

(c) “E911 System”: Means the Public Safety Answering Point equipment, in accordance with the State E911 Plan, including 911 call routing, processing, mapping and call answering communications equipment.

(d) “Government Accounting Standards Board” (GASB): Means the independent organization that establishes and improves standards of accounting and financial reporting for U.S. state and local governments.

(e) “Next Generation 911” (NG-911): Means the designation for an advanced 911 emergency communications system or service that provides a communications service subscriber with 911 service and, in addition, directs 911 emergency requests for assistance to appropriate public safety answering points based on the geographical location from which the request originated, or as otherwise provided in the State E911 Plan under Section 365.171, F.S., and that provides for automatic number identification and automatic location identification features and emergency data information through managed IP-based networks.

(f) “Public Safety Answering Point” (PSAP): As defined by Section 365.172(3)(a), Florida Statutes, and as referenced in the State E911 Plan under Section 365.171, Florida Statutes.

(3)(2) General conditions.

(a) Each rural county applying for rural county grant funds shall complete and submit W Form 1A, “Application for the E911 Rural County Grant Program,” effective 7/7/20111/1/2011, which is incorporated herein by reference and which may be obtained from the E911 Board office at the following address: https://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-00410 or

State of Florida E911 Board

ATTN: Administrative Assistant

4050 Esplanade Way

Building 4030 – Suite 160

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0950

The applicant must provide one original of the pages for Application Form items 1 through 14 and the associated quotes. for Tthe grant application package must be postmarked or delivered on or before April 1 or October 1 of each year, dependent on the spring or fall application period.

(b) through (c) No change.

(d) Grant applications totaling $35,000.00 or more must be accompanied by at least three written substantiated competitive quotes from different vendors. The E911 Board will compare the three quotes to any existing state contract in order to determine appropriate funding. Any county that has made a good faith effort to obtain at least three competitive quotes and has not been able to obtain the quotes can request E911 Board review based on substantiated proof of request for quotes or posting of the request with documentation of the limited responses.

(e) Sole source funding will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Justification for sole source funding shall be provided with the application. Sole source funding will be approved if provided in accordance with Chapter 287, F.S., or with provision of a letter from the county’s purchasing department that the project is a sole source procurement based on the county’s purchasing requirements, which shall should be provided with this grant application.

(f) Priorities for awarding of grants will be determined by the E911 Board. Grant priorities may be adjusted by the Board and published with the grant application package three (3) months prior to the application submission date. The grant priority list is available as an addendum with the grant application at the start of each grant cycle at the address shown in paragraph (3)(2)(a) above.

(g) through (i) No change.

(j) Grant funding shall be limited to eligible equipment maintenance and warranty costs for a primary PSAP and one other PSAP per county; either a primary, a secondary or a backup.

(k)(j) No change.

(l) Grant funding for customer premise equipment shall be limited to eligible expenditures for a primary PSAP only.

(m) Any county that requires Board of County Commissioner approval of the grant program funding, prior to commencement of the project, shall notify the E911 Board in Application Form item #10. Grant funds for approved grant applications will be held until the county provides written notification to the E911 Board of the Board of County Commissioners approval of the project prior to the funds being disbursed from the E911 Trust Fund.

(n) Grant funds shall be deposited in an interest bearing account maintained by the grantee county, and each grant shall be assigned a unique accounting code designation for deposits, disbursements, and expenditures. All E911 Rural County Grant funds in the account shall be accounted for separately from other grantee funds. Accounting shall be consistent with GASB 31 financial reporting. Utilization of the earned interest funds shall be authorized through an approved Request for Change Form and expenditure documentation shall be included in the final report. Grant funds including accrued interest may be used only between the beginning and ending dates of the grant, unless an extension is requested and authorized by the E911 Board. Extension of time will not be granted unless the county has executed a contract for the grant equipment and/or services, or demonstrates good cause for failure to execute a contract within twelve months of award. Grant extensions shall be limited to a maximum of one additional year when approved by the Board.

(o)(k) Grantee counties must submit quarterly reports to the E911 Board, summarizing the expenditures and activities of the grant funds. The reports are due 30 days after the end of the reporting period, which ends March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31. Updated Grant Budget/Expenditure, Quarter Report Forms, Request for Change Forms, and Final Report Forms and associated information In lieu of submitting a signed quarterly Grant Budget/Expenditure and Quarterly Report Form, the updated form should can be e-mailed to E911 [e-mail] the Board’s administrative/technical staff. The quarterly and final reports will be considered late if not received by the Board Staff prior to the next scheduled Board Meeting after the due date.

(p)(l) At project completion, a final report shall be submitted based on the same reporting periods described in (3)(o) above. The County shall determine the final completion date based on the final payment date or the initiation date of the warranty period. Final supporting documentation including copies of all expenditures and corresponding invoices shall be submitted within 90 days of the final report.

(m) through (q) renumbered (q) through (u) No change.

(4)(3) No change.

Rulemaking Authority 365.172(6)(a)11. FS. Law implemented 365.173(2)(g), 365.172(9)(a), (b), (c) FS. History–New 12-7-08, Amended 10-19-09, 4-15-10, 10-27-10, Formerly 60FF-5.002, Amended 7-17-11,_________.

 

THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROPOSED RULE IS: Ryan Butler, Special Support Manager, 4030 Esplanade Way, Suite 160, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0950