from the E911 Commission (you can google it and read it all for yourself)

Templeton will again this fiscal year - 2017 use grant funds (one time funds) to "balance" a budget, as in cover reoccurring expenses with grant funds - shows again how Templeton does not have its finances straight.

V.        Use of Funding

Grantees may only use grant funds for the purposes listed below.  Use of all grant funding shall be: (a) related to the provision of enhanced 911 service; and (b) approved by the State 911 Department.   Funds shall not be used for any equipment, personnel or services that are not directly related to the provision of enhanced 911 service.  The State 911 Department reserves the right to reject the funding of items that are equivalent to items that have been purchased with State 911 Department grant funds and are still within their industry standard accepted shelve lives.  Additionally, the State 911 Department reserves the right, consistent with these guidelines, to provide or deny funding for types or classes of items that have been permitted or denied in prior grant cycles.

The State 911 Department will allow funding for the purchase or lease of equipment and for debt service on equipment, including without limitation, principal and interest payments on loans, notes, and bonds.  The State 911 Department will allow grantees to assign lease, debt service, and/or or incremental purchase costs to this grant.  However, any and all funding requested under this grant program shall be for goods and/or services received.  Funding will not be disbursed for obligations made without receipt of goods/services.  The State 911 Department makes no guarantee of funding from year to year and does not assume any obligation, as guarantor or otherwise, under any purchase, lease, or debt instrument. 

1.                  Allowable Expenses

Unless otherwise noted, primary PSAPs, regional PSAPs, regional secondary PSAPs, and RECCs shall be eligible to receive reimbursement of allowable expenses related to the categories below.  Primary PSAPs, regional PSAPs, and RECCs who transfer 911 calls to a secondary PSAP may be reimbursed for the allowable expenses of such secondary PSAP.   Funding shall not be available for expenses of a ringing PSAP or a limited secondary PSAP, except where such limited secondary PSAP is the certified emergency medical dispatch resource for the PSAP.

A. Enhanced 911 Telecommunicator Personnel Costs – to defray the costs of salary for enhanced 911 telecommunicator personnel, including enhanced 911 telecommunicators who are emergency communications dispatchers or supervisors.  In order to be eligible for such funding, a grantee shall show that the personnel costs to be reimbursed: (1) cover only personnel who are trained and certified as an enhanced 911  telecommunicator in accordance with the requirements of the State 911 Department, or are in the process of obtaining such certification, in accordance with the requirements of the State 911 Department; and (2) except as otherwise approved by the State 911 Department, are solely for hours in which such personnel are working in the capacity of an enhanced 911 telecommunicator as their primary job function.  Reimbursement may be allowed for straight time costs for on the job training for new telecommunicators who are in the process of obtaining certification as an enhanced 911 telecommunicator, in accordance with the requirements of the State 911 Department.  Reimbursement for personnel costs related to training may be allowed only for training courses that have been approved by the State 911 Department under the Fiscal Year 2017 State 911 Department Training Grant, or with the prior written approval of the State 911 Department.  Reimbursement for personnel costs for individuals who have other primary job duties not directly related to enhanced 911 service, such as firefighters or police officers who may occasionally be assigned PSAP enhanced 911 telecommunicator duty, may be allowed only for the documented hours in which the employee is acting primarily in the capacity of an enhanced 911 telecommunicator.  For example, if a police officer or firefighter is assigned to work as an enhanced 911 telecommunicator 1 day a week, funding from these grants may only be used to cover the portion of such firefighter or police officer’s salary for the 1 day a week that he or she is assigned to enhanced 911 telecommunicator duty.  Funding awarded through these grants shall be assigned to specific identified personnel, and the funding shall be applied to the personnel costs associated with such specific identified personnel. 

All wage reimbursements authorized under this Program shall be allocated by the grantee in adherence with applicable collective bargaining agreements.  However, the State 911 Department is not bound by or required to adhere to grantee collective bargaining agreements when determining allocations or reimbursements.

Certified enhanced 911 telecommunicators for whom reimbursement requests are submitted shall be identified on the Personnel Costs form contained in the Application Package.   A PSAP may add a certified enhanced 911 telecommunicator or personnel working toward such certification following the award of the grant by submitting a request to 911DeptGrants@state.ma.us.  Said request shall contain the information noted on the Personnel Costs form contained in the Application Package and shall provide documentation of the required certifications received from attendance at courses hosted by an entity other than the State 911 Department.   The State 911 Department will review the request and advise, in writing, whether or not the request has been approved.

posted by Jeff Bennett