On October 23, 2017, USAC Schools & Libraries Committee held its quarterly board meeting. The USAC Schools & Libraries Committee authorized the SLD to open the FY2018 Form 471 Filing Window to open no earlier than January 2, 2018 and close the window on or after March 20, 2018. The exact window dates will be announced in a few weeks and the SLD would like to close the FY2018 window in late March in order to release commitments in a more timely fashion.
The USAC Schools & Libraries Committee reported that the SLD has increased staff to the Fiber Team in order to speed up processing. FY2017 fiber applications totaled 1,328 with requests for $306.22 million, compared with 1,243 fiber applications requested in FY2016. Through the Third Quarter 2017, 47% of FY2017 fiber applications have been reviewed and the SLD reported this is an improvement as compared to FY2016.
The Board also discussed the following issues:
- USAC approved the First 2018 Quarter programmatic budget for the Schools and Libraries Division of $18.01 million;
- USAC approved the First 2018 programmatic capital budget for the Schools and Libraries Division of $0.21 million;
- USAC issued 945 appeal decisions in Third Quarter 2017 compared with 997 decisions issued in Second Quarter 2017;
- USAC approved 9 Internal Audit Division Schools and Libraries Support Mechanism Beneficiary Audit Reports;
- For the quarter, the average time to issue an appeal decision was 82 days compared to 137 days last quarter, a 40% reduction;
- The average processing time for invoice line items was 82 days in Third Quarter 2017 compared to 87 days in the Second Quarter 2017;
- The SLD is conducting a review of its invoicing processes and developing better procedures to assist with customer service
Note: The information above is 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.
