Frequently Asked Questions for The Fund for the Efficient Delivery of Local and Regional Services

 

QUESTION: Do you have to partner with a service center to qualify for the grant?

ANSWER: No. You do not have to partner with a service center to qualify for the grant.

 

QUESTION:  When will the grant applications be opened and what information is available to the public?

ANSWER:  All grant applications will be opened at the Maine Development Foundation Offices, 45 Memorial Circle, Augusta, ME on Tuesday, January 18, 2005 at 2:00 p.m.  A list of grant applicants may be obtained after that date and time.  The grant applications are not subject to public review until after the successful grant applications have been awarded.

 

QUESTION:  The application refers on page 9 to Chief Executive Officer of each participating entity.  In the case of municipalities, there are managers, administrators, administrative assistants, and first selectmen but no Chief Executive Officers.  Would persons in these municipal positions be characterized as Chief Executive Officers for this purpose?

ANSWER:  For municipalities, the town or city manager or the first selectmen is the chief executive officer. For quasi-governmental organizations, the signature needed is the person who has the decision-making authority.

 

QUESTION:  On page 3 operating funds ... are defined as expenditures budgeted by a municipality for "salaries or supplies".  Does this include expenditures for contract administrative services, e.g. code enforcement, assessing, auditing, economic development, et cetera.

ANSWER:  Yes, if they are ongoing budgeted expenses.

 

QUESTION:  On page 4, Section 6.  Do eligible costs include costs for materials and equipment?  Assume, for example, a new, hi-tech regional recycling project includes new hi-tech processing equipment, a proprietary computerized inventory management, order tracking, shipment, and billing system, and the IT infrastructure on which to run it, a salaried position to manage the program, and a new or refurbished space in which to do the work.  Would these and similar costs be eligible?

ANSWER:  Within the maximum cooperative services grant award amount of $200,000, the capital investments i.e. equipment, IT infrastructure, and building would be eligible; however, the salaried position is an ongoing budgeted expense and would not be eligible. If you were to need the services of a consultant, their fee for purposes of the grant project would be an eligible cost.

 

QUESTION:  Will MDF post successful applications on the web?   

ANSWER:  No. But MDF will provide a summary report to the state of Maine outlining lessons learned from the projects funded.   Copies of all grant applications will be available for review at MDF offices after the successful applicants have been notified.

 

QUESTION:  Can a project proposal include a planning component within a cooperative services grant proposal?  An applicant may be ready with a project but need to expand or extend previous planning activities as it moves to implementation.  

ANSWER:  Yes (section 2, paragraph 3), but you would need to show in your budget how much is for planning and the planning piece cannot exceed the maximum planning grant award allowed of $10,000. Also, in order to best meet the grant criteria, you would need to be ready to move into implementation within a timeframe where you can demonstrate the greatest amount of property tax savings.

 

QUESTION:  In Section 4. 2., is membership in a Regional Council formed pursuant to 30-A MRSA 2301 to provide planning and economic development services for its members evidence of the adoption of "intergovernmental practices"?

ANSWER:  Yes. 

 

QUESTION:  For purposes of the grant what are "intergovernmental practices"?   

ANSWER:  For the purposes of the grant “intergovernmental practices” refers to more than one government working together to jointly provide local services.

 

QUESTION:  Are these practices that reduce property taxes?  

ANSWER:  Yes. Section 4, paragraph 2, number 2 states "has previously adopted intergovernmental practices that have achieved cost savings in operating funds related to administrative services. Number 3 states "document that such savings were directed for property tax relief." 

 

QUESTION:  Are these practices undertaken in concert with another municipality or quasi-governmental organization that reduce property taxes?

ANSWER:  YES.  

 

QUESTION:  Are there any practical limits?  Can you offer some examples?

ANSWER:  Section 5 offers some examples.

 

QUESTION:  Would participation in a joint purchasing program or regional economic development forum or a Pine Tree Zone sponsored and or administered by a Regional Council be an "intergovernmental practice"?

ANSWER:  Yes, as long as property tax savings can be documented and attributed to the intergovernmental practice.

 

QUESTION:  Can there be more time provided to prepare applications?  The effect of the December holidays is to shorten effectively the time available to respond by about 10 days as many players will be unavailable from 12/23/04 through 1/4/05.  Many potential municipal applicants are able to bind the municipality only through a town meeting.  Most are held in March with a few in June.  Special town meetings require considerable advance public notice and must be initiated by the board or council which meet semi-monthly.  

ANSWER:  The first $1 million from the Fund for the Efficient Delivery of Local and Regional Services is intended as a pilot grant program. It will both help towns get ready to take advantage of the ongoing grant program and will help the state understand what types of projects are most effective to be supported by the ongoing grant program. (The Question 1 referendum enacted by voters last summer contains provisions for these funds to be replenished annually for an ongoing grant program to support regional delivery of services.)

 

We anticipate that many of the proposals submitted by towns and cities for the first million will be for initiatives that have already been under consideration for some time. The intent is to fund proposals that are 'ready to go' and that will produce the greatest amount of property tax savings most quickly.

 

The $1 million grant program provides for planning grants so more towns will have proposals ready for future grants.

 

State law requires warrants to be posted at least seven days prior to town meeting. Typically town meeting warrants are posted 30-60 days in advance of the town meeting. Towns with town meetings in early spring can include articles in their regular town meeting warrant in anticipation of the grant announcement on March 15^th. Towns with town meetings later in the year will know whether they have received a grant prior to posting the warrant. Please note that towns do not have to have town meeting approval prior to submitting a grant application, but they would need approval before signing a grant contract.

 

QUESTION:  Are ambulance services eligible for this grant?  For example, several communities currently contract with a hospital for ambulatory services, but would like to join together and form an ambulance service to serve the surrounding communities.

ANSWER:  Yes.

 

QUESTION:  Currently, the County Sheriff's office dispatches for a municipality and the data is entered into the Spillman Record Management System (SRMS) when the County Sheriff’s office receives the call. However, due to the municipality's outdated system, all data must be reentered once the call is received and there is no ability to share other pertinent files causing duplicative work and loss of valuable time. If the municipality was able to update their system to SRMS, the efficiency rate would increase, and duplicated work and loss of time would decrease - ultimately saving tax payers money. Apparently there are more police departments that the County Sheriff’s office also dispatches for, that may want to update their systems as well.  Is this eligible for the grant? 

ANSWER:  No.  There must be more than one entity applying.  

 

QUESTION:  If the municipality got the other police departments/municipalities to apply with them?

ANSWER:  YES, if the municipality were to join other Towns and create a system that served more than one community, this would meet the first of the three eligibility requirements listed on page 3, section 4, paragraph 2 of the Grant Instructions.

 

QUESTION:  A municipality currently has a recycling program involving 9-10 other communities. They would like to apply for the grant to update the equipment and facilities; the result being lowered labor cost and the ability to provide recycling services to other communities requesting to join the program. They take the expense of the program, subtract the revenue, and split the difference by charging each community by tonnage. Is this eligible?

ANSWER:  Yes.

 

QUESTION: Does each community currently participating in this recycling program have to sign the application?

ANSWER:  Yes. (Page 9, paragraph 2)

 

 

QUESTION:  A municipality has an outdoor swimming pool which 3 other towns use for a small fee (to cover lifeguard costs).  It is in desperate need of repair. Does this qualify?

ANSWER:  No.

 

QUESTION: Is there a limit to the number of applications a town can submit?

ANSWER:  No.

 

QUESTION: Several communities are interested in a project that would potentially lower their individual administrative costs. They have asked that the Commission be the Designated Project Manager(DPM) for a planning grant to explore the feasibility of this idea. Can the Commission be the DPM, or must it be a municipality?

ANSWER:  The municipality must be the lead in applying for a grant (see page 3, section 4, second sentence). In reference to page 5, paragraph 3 where it states "Municipalities applying for a grant must identify the lead community (Designated Project Manager)..."; although the word "community" is used, the Designated Project Manager still must be a municipality because as the DPM, they would be the entity receiving the funds. If the municipality should then wish to contract with the Commission for it services, it may, provided the services/contract is covered under eligible expenses (page 4, section 6).

 

QUESTION:  Section 4 appears to limit the applicant pool to municipalities. Our project is at the county level. With that in mind, is the county organization eligible to apply for the grant?

ANSWER: The county organization is not eligible to apply for the grant on its own. The lead in applying for the grant must be a municipality. However, if you can get a municipality to take the lead for the application and work with you, it would take care of this problem. Maybe the municipality in which you are constructing the new building would be willing to be designated as project manager.

 

QUESTION:  We want to upgrade an existing training facility which is currently used by 11 communities and the cost is per the amount each community uses it. The upgrades we plan to do would improve training. Is this eligible?

ANSWER: No. Not unless the upgrades would result in savings in “operating funds related to administrative services” and those savings would need to be directed for property tax relief.

 

QUESTION: Are capital items and transitional buildings costs eligible? Can we apply for monies to cover the costs of some of the following?

·         Dispatch Software for off site communities

·         Cruiser Software IMC – 16 units @ 1k each

·         Radio Reprogramming and repeaters to make radio systems able to reach remote areas of Town- also looking to prevent “talk over”

·         Voter system installation (radio)

·         Telephone reprogramming to send calls

·         “Hot Phone” to connect to Dispatch center when the present Lobby is no longer staffed 24 hours per day.

·         Changing of 911 Lines and phone systems to send Police Calls, but then back again for Police Admin. type calls

·         Unanticipated “Technical Glitches” that need to be addressed immediately for the conversion

·         E911 Equipment Lease costs- $60,000 to $80,000

 

If the costs above are eligible $100,000 to 150,000, we believe we can make the dispatch functional within 6 months. If the costs are ineligible, then it will take a much longer period of time to pull the trigger.

 

My direct question is not will you fund these items, but are they eligible for funding? The grant application is worded to imply more planning than actual implementation (“capital equipment” funding). We are using most of our Homeland security funds toward many of the elements needed for a future regional police department, but the radio communication piece is more expensive than the monies eligible to any of the 3 communities.  

ANSWER: All of the items you have listed below except for one are eligible for funding (page 4, section 6 states "Efforts to consolidate buildings or services"). The only thing listed that might be questionable is the "E911 Equipment Lease costs". Is this something you will be paying/budgeting for each year? If so, it is not an eligible expenditure (page 4, section 6 states "The costs of ongoing operating expenditures that would otherwise be budgeted by municipalities are not eligible").

 

QUESTION: Can counties apply for grants?

ANSWER: Only municipalities can apply for grants. However, one or more municipalities can join with one or more county governments (or other quasi-governmental organizations) to implement a project that will reduce the cost of county services and thus provide property tax relief.

 

QUESTION: Why are municipalities the only eligible applicant?

ANSWER: The law passed by the Legislature setting up the Fund for the Efficient Delivery of Local and Regional Service stipulates that the funds must be distributed to municipalities. The source of the grant funds is Municipal Revenue Sharing. Lawmakers felt that since monies to fund the grant program came from this municipal source, they should be returned to municipalities through the grant program.

 

QUESTION:  I just wanted to confirm whether the application form for either a planning grant, or a cooperative services grant are indeed one and the same?  I only note one set of instructions on the website.

ANSWER: Yes. The same instructions and application is being used for both grants.

 

QUESTION:  Is there a deadline for filing grant applications? I could not find any mention of one on the website.

ANSWER: Applications must be postmarked no later than January 14, 2005. Hand deliveries will be accepted at the Maine Development Foundation's office until 2 PM on January 14, 2005. This is listed in the Grant Instructions and Application on pages 5 and 9.

 

QUESTION: I need a little clarification on what exactly is being asked for on an item under the Application Checklist (page 9). The second last item asks for "Copies of contracts, by-laws, or interlocal agreements establishing the administrative entity applying for the collaborative project".

By "administrative entity" do you mean the lead municipality? Are you simply asking for some documentation showing who the agreed upon lead municipality is?

ANSWER: This refers to Step 1 in the Grant Steps (page 5) and it refers to any agreements that the municipality(s) or intergovernmental entity(s) might already be relying on in applying for the grant.  Also see reference to inter-local agreements under 30-A MRSA section 2201 in Section 4 Eligibility (page 3).  So, if an entity is claiming to be an inter-local authority partnering with a municipality, it has to provide the documentation that it is an inter-local authority.   

 

QUESTION: Do we need signatures of municipalities that may join into partnership with us in the future?

ANSWER: No. The only signatures you need are the signatures of the Chief Executive Officer of each participating entity (page 5, paragraph 4 and page 9, paragraph 2).