GOFERR County Emergency Equipment FAQs

This program is open to New Hampshire counties.
Cities/towns, village districts, as well as school, water, sewer and fire districts, or similar cooperative municipal districts are not eligible.

To apply for this program, please visit the program page on GOFERR’s website by clicking here. On that page, scroll down to and click on the “Apply Now” button for the program.

You will need the contact and financial information relevant to your entity’s application, including appropriate documentation to be attached to the application.

For this program, that may include documents supporting:

• For existing equipment purchase reimbursement: individual invoice or receipt for each item/purchase; or
• For equipment purchases that will be completed by May 15, 2023

See question four for additional information.

It is highly recommended that you do not wait until shortly before the application period closes to complete your application, as you will not be able to complete it once the deadline passes.

Counties will be eligible for at least an award of $350,000 for eligible expenses. Additional funding may be available but will be contingent on any remaining funding in the program after applications are processed. Funding in excess of $350,000 per county is not guaranteed.

Each county is eligible for a grant of up to $350,000.  A 10 percent match by the county is required. For example, to receive a $350,000 award, a county will need to acquire eligible equipment with a total cost of at least $388,889.

If program funds remain after all counties have had an opportunity to apply, any remaining funds will be awarded on a pro rata basis to applying counties with eligible expenses over $350,000. A county receiving an additional pro rata share of remaining funds, pushing their award over $350,000, will still be required to maintain a minimum 10 percent match for all funds received under this program. Counties are not limited in how much they can request for reimbursement in an application, however, only $350,000 per county for eligible expenses is guaranteed to be made available to each County through this program.

In order to obtain this benefit counties must apply for the matching grant by Tuesday, March 14, 2023, 04:00 PM. If an award is made, approval by Governor and Council will be required.

 

Eligible equipment must be acquired after March 3, 2021, and must meet the definition of 2 CFR 200.33, which establishes a minimum value of $250 for equipment to qualify.

It must also be for safety and/or public health response and prevention equipment expenditures that have assisted or will assist the locality in responding or being prepared to respond to COVID-19.

Among other things, that could include equipment needed in response to personnel shortages related to the health crisis. All reimbursed costs have to be allowable expenses under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund.

Purchases, financed purchases, as well as leases and lease-to-purchase, and similar financial agreements used to purchase equipment are allowed. The equipment must have been acquired after March 3, 2021, however, and the State will only match the portion paid by May 15, 2023. Equipment leases or purchase agreements must have been entered into on or after March 3, 2021, as well.

The cost of the equipment must not have been reimbursed or covered by other state or federal programs or agencies.

Applicants may not apply for any expense that they have already claimed in any other state or federal COVID-19 relief program, including but not limited to New Hampshire Department of Justice Grants from ARPA funds to Municipalities, or have received reimbursement from another source, such as FEMA.

 

Yes. For previously purchased equipment or the amount of lease payments made toward such equipment, Counties must upload/provide as part of their application documentation that shows that the equipment was purchased or leased between March 3, 2021, and the submission of your application.

For anticipated acquisitions that will be made before May 15, 2023, documentation supporting the anticipated purchase price.

In order to receive payment on any award issued, the County must have submitted all required documentation on eligible expenses. GOFERR cannot reimburse on individual eligible purchases within an award until all documentation is received.

Yes. An award can be made based on the anticipated purchase price, but payment for purchases that have not occurred yet will be made only after the purchase is sufficiently obligated, such as an invoice showing delivery or a signed purchase agreement that obligates the locality to make the purchase at a set price.

If awarded funds are needed for the initial down payment, contact GOFERR at info@goferr.nh.gov to discuss how this can be arranged.

Counties should not submit your application until you are certain it is complete and County has the correct documents ready to upload, as an applicant will not be able to make changes after submission. Counties  can save your application and finish it later, if needed.

However, if a County realizes that it made an error or omitted a document before the application period closes, the County can submit a new application that contains the updated information.

GOFERR will assume that the application filed last in time is the most complete and will only process the last in time application.

The corrected application must contain all of the information that you want considered, even if it was otherwise correct in your earlier application, as GOFERR will not look to an earlier filed application for missing information.

GOFERR will not add documents to a submitted application or change answers that Counties have already submitted.

Applicants will receive notice of the initial determination and amount of award, if any. They will then have 15 calendar days from the date of the initial notice to contest the determination.

Appeals are permitted under the circumstances described below.

• Contesting eligibility:
  • provide an explanation and evidence to substantiate your claim about why your organization is actually eligible for the program
• Award determinations:
  • provide an explanation and evidence supporting that the calculation of the award, based on the information submitted in the application, is in error
• Application submission errors:
  • only obvious typographical errors can be corrected, such as misplacing a decimal point or transposing digits.

Appeal requests and relevant evidence must be submitted in writing electronically to Appeals@goferr.nh.gov

The appeal will be determined based on the written submission and documents in GOFERR’s possession. No hearing will be held.

Applicants will receive a notice of the determination on the appeal. No further appeal is allowed.

First, if an application is already started, please check the related email inbox for login information provided as part of the registration process.

In the event that login information cannot be found or an applicant continues to have any difficulty, please contact info@goferr.nh.gov.

Applicants will need to use an internet browser such as Microsoft Edge, Firefox, or Google Chrome to complete the application. Internet Explorer will not work properly with this application.

We strongly encourage that applications be finalized and submitted prior to the last day of the application period. If you require assistance submitting an application, please contact GOFERR at info@goferr.nh.gov.

There are several options. We recommend carefully reading the instructions regarding the supporting documentation provided as part of the application.

Only one document per upload is allowed and will be recognized by the system. We recommend that if multiple related documents must be uploaded, combine them.

If an applicant does not have the appropriate software to combine PDFs this can be done by printing the documents and scanning them together as one document to pdf. Please also note that below the required document field, there are “optional” document field(s) that provide the ability to upload up to three optional documents.

If an applicant for some reason still encounters any issues, please contact info@goferr.nh.gov.