Locality Equipment Purchase Program - FAQs

This program is open to New Hampshire cities and towns (hereinafter, locality/localities).

Village districts, as well as school, water, sewer and fire districts, or similar cooperative municipal districts are not eligible. However, a locality or group of localities that such a district serves could apply for equipment that will benefit and be used by the district.

How a locality apportions the costs for such a shared purchase would need to be decided among the participating localities.

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 December 31, 2022: documentation supporting the anticipated purchase price. (Note: 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.)

 

If you are from a department of a locality (fire, EMS, police) you must submit as a supporting document in Step 3 of 5 “Optional Documents” an authorization signed by the town administrator or similar town official that you have authority to apply on behalf of the town. An e-mail address for the town administrator should be provided in the alternate contact field in Step 1 and in the authorization.

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.

Each locality will be eligible for a grant up to $50,000. A 10 percent match by the locality is required. As a result, to obtain the maximum $50,000 award a locality will need to acquire eligible equipment with a total cost of at least $55,556.  

A locality may request funding based on the acquisition of more than one piece of eligible equipment and a cost in excess of the grant amount, but the State will only contribute $50,000 through this program.

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 December 31, 2022.  

In order to obtain this benefit, cities and towns must apply for the matching grant by June 3, 2022. 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.

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.

Lease or financing payments made toward such equipment are eligible, so long as the equipment lease or purchase agreement was entered into on or after March 3, 2021.

Yes. For existing equipment purchases or the amount of lease payments made toward such equipment, you must upload 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 December 31, 2022, documentation supporting the anticipated purchase price.

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

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

However, if you realize that you made an error or omitted a document before the application period closes, you 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 you 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 you have already started an application, please check your email inbox for your login information provided as part of your registration process.

In the event that you cannot find your login information or continue 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 if you have multiple documents to combine them into the appropriate number of documents as explained above.

Alternatively, if for some reason you do 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 fields, there are “optional” document field(s) that provide the ability to upload up to three optional documents. 

If you for some reason still encounter any issues, please contact info@goferr.nh.gov.