Bleak Grant Outlook for 2011
Politicians inside the Beltway tell us that the recession ended last year. If you asked a person standing in an unemployment line in New York, Philadelphia, Denver or Los Angeles if they agree with that assessment, they would probably say no. If you took a close look at many state and local budgets, prosperity is hard to find. More and more, the states are withholding funds that used to be passed on to municipalities to help with their projects.
Beginning with the “Safe Streets” Act of the late 1960s, which spawned the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, the federal government has been awarding money to state and local governments. Things have tightened up considerably from the early days when you could get money for almost anything. These days, you actually have to justify your request.
One project that has many public safety organizations scrambling for money today is the FCC requirement to narrowband equipment on all radio frequencies below 512 MHz. Many city and county agencies don’t have adequate asset management plans for their communications hardware. Many don’t have a reserve account set aside to purchase a lot of new equipment or refurbish a complete system all at once. Keep in mind that you cannot narrowband a system on a piecemeal basis. It must be done all at once, or you won’t be talking to anybody.
Given the shortage of available local funds, it’s only natural to look elsewhere for financial assistance. In the past, agencies have looked to the federal grant programs to bail them out. This is no longer possible. As this article is being written, Congress has not finalized the budget for 2011. However, some early information has been made available to me. The Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) has been funded at $2,150,000,000. This is a small increase over 2010. However, this increase comes at a price. Some programs have been eliminated. These are Operation Stonegarden (OPSG), Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS) and the Citizen Corps Program.
The Assistance to Firefighters Grant program has been funded at $610 million. This is a competitive grant program that usually awards individual grants in the amount of $5,000.
The Preparedness Grant Program is slated to be $1,640,000,000.
The following items of interest to public safety communications have been eliminated: The Emergency Operations Center Grant Program and the Interoperable Emergency Communications Grant Program are not funded for 2011.
There is no stand-alone funding program to support narrowbanding in 2011. If you are currently doing narrowbanding as part of another grant and have questions, contact your grant administrator.
The Department of Justice Program has eliminated the COPS Technology Grant program.
The State Homeland Security Program has been funded at about $1 billion. The breakdown of these funds is not available at the time this article is being written.
Corporate Funds
There is one last thing to consider. In some cases, corporations have given money to public safety agencies in their area. For example, John Deer provided money to the Moline Police Department. The special consideration for this type of giving is that the corporation must give the money regardless of which agency receives the grant award. Given the right circumstances and justification, this type of award may be more available than one may think. It can’t hurt to ask around.
Narrowbanding Resources
- Official FCC narrowbanding Web site: www.narrowband.us;
- APCO AFC: www.apcointl.org/frequency; and
- Public Safety Communications online: https://psc.apcointl.org/tag/narrowbanding.
About the Author
Charles Taylor has more than 30 years of experience in public safety land mobile radio and is retired from the Ventura County (Calif.) Communications Department. He is a member of CPRA and the APCO International Editorial Advisory Committee. Contact him via e-mail at [email protected].
Originally published in Public Safety Communications magazine, Vol. 77(3):15, March 2011.