By Brandon Johnson
Have you ever pondered the origin of the famous quote, “You want to have your cake and eat it, too?” No you say? Well, this sometimes misquoted proverb is from the work of an early English writer named John Heywood. What Mr. Heywood actually said was, “Would ye both eat your cake and have your cake?” But there are some cases where you can absolutely have the best of both.
In speaking with fire and EMS agencies about the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program, there is a great deal of confusion about just how many applications each eligible agency may submit in a given year. Some say one, others two.
Very rarely is the correct answer given. According to the 2008 published guidance for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant, each eligible agency may submit one application for each “program area” for a total of three.
The 2009 AFG workshop has not provided any information which would lead one to believe that there will be changes in this area. The three AFG program areas are:
- Fire/EMS Operations & Safety
- Fire/EMS Vehicle Acquisition
- Regional Projects
Each individual application is scored independently of the others, and submitting multiple applications will not affect an application’s score. One caveat to this is any agency hosting/participating in a regional application is prohibited from requesting the same equipment as part its own application. Doing so will result in both applications being made ineligible.
Part of the 2008 AFG guidance reads:
In FY 2008, you may submit one application per application period in each of the program areas, (i.e., one application under Operations and Safety, one under Vehicle Acquisition, and/or a separate application as a regional host). If multiple applications are submitted on behalf of one organization within one of these program areas, either intentionally or unintentionally, we will deem all of that organization’s applications in that program area to be ineligible. For example, if any applicant submits two applications for Operations and Safety, both applications will be deemed ineligible.
Fire departments or nonaffiliated EMS organizations that will benefit from a regional project may also apply for funding under the AFG, as long as they are not requesting the same items as the host applicant for the regional project. For example, if a host applicant applies for a multi-jurisdictional communications project, a participating organization that will receive some of the communications equipment can apply for other needs as long as it does not apply for duplicative communications equipment. Host applicants MAY NOT apply to address other needs beyond the regional project on the regional application; however, a host applicant may submit a request to meet its own, non-regional needs in a separate application.
While the 2009 AFG guidance has not yet been published, workshops for the 2009 AFG program are ongoing. I would encourage you to attend, get the facts, and increase your chances for success in 2009!
Best of luck!
