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Increase in Grant Happened
Hey everyone,
Just wanted to let you in on an odd occurance,
we got our prelim 10Q for a vehicle (vacu-tender) this year (2 days ago actually), and the price we asked for was reduced by almost 1/3.
To the point, we could not get the vehicle we were asking for within the grant without paying an additional 50-70K on our own, which is almost our entire years budget.
I called our grant adviser (person on the letter), and talked with them, explaining we based our price on a vendor cost of our spec with a fudge factor built in to include a 2011 price increase. She said she just handles the admin, not the pricing, there is a whole different group that evaluates for proper pricing. She gave me the number to call for the person she deals with..
I called and talked with a guy (don't remember the name of the office he worked for (which department in grants).. but he said the prices are based off of what you ask for. He said a tanker is a tanker, vacu- or otherwise unless in your narrative you can show why you need vacu that the regular NFPA would NOT be able to meet or handle.
While we were talking, I was asking him, since the price is reduced, how much can we deviate from the grant "spec" before we "failed" the grant. if we take the fire pump off, reduce tank size or remove the vacu- bit, would that cause them to call foul, to get within the price range they asked for..
I never did get an answer for that particular item, but when I mentioned tank size he looked, and stated because we asked for a specific tank size that required a tandem axle chassis, he was able to increase the allowed amount. He would re-send the info to our grant manager who should resend the amended 10Q..
Basically we were given a 200K (190 Fed, 10 Ours) and with a couple of phone calls and a discussion, look like we are being bumped up to the 275K level..
I brought this for 3 reasons..
1. they use a price basis, off of the last few years for each type of vehicle. regardless of true options (foam, etc).. single axle tender appears to be 200K
2. Double axle tender appears to be 275K
3. With talk, you might be able to (however inadvertently) give them information that was overlooked in why the reduction should not have occurred. while it is not actually negotiation, it does mean the letter saying you lose 1/3 of asking, does not have to be the final word....
(Note: Kind of an advertisement)
Wanted to thank BC79er, for his services, while we did not use him this go around, just seeing the detail of the grantwork he does is amazing, and gives you alot of information that you would have never thought of. So Kudo's to Brian and his staff.. Also, if you ever have the chance to get to one of his seminars, do it.. the info he imparts with these far exceeds the FEMA seminars (should go to those too of course, more info is better), but BC, gives more realism in his, not the pie-in-the-sky type of stuff that FEMA likes, and you can ask him more specific grant related questions that FEMA is not willing to usually commit on.
Just wanted to let you in on an odd occurance,
we got our prelim 10Q for a vehicle (vacu-tender) this year (2 days ago actually), and the price we asked for was reduced by almost 1/3.
To the point, we could not get the vehicle we were asking for within the grant without paying an additional 50-70K on our own, which is almost our entire years budget.I called our grant adviser (person on the letter), and talked with them, explaining we based our price on a vendor cost of our spec with a fudge factor built in to include a 2011 price increase. She said she just handles the admin, not the pricing, there is a whole different group that evaluates for proper pricing. She gave me the number to call for the person she deals with..
I called and talked with a guy (don't remember the name of the office he worked for (which department in grants).. but he said the prices are based off of what you ask for. He said a tanker is a tanker, vacu- or otherwise unless in your narrative you can show why you need vacu that the regular NFPA would NOT be able to meet or handle.
While we were talking, I was asking him, since the price is reduced, how much can we deviate from the grant "spec" before we "failed" the grant. if we take the fire pump off, reduce tank size or remove the vacu- bit, would that cause them to call foul, to get within the price range they asked for..
I never did get an answer for that particular item, but when I mentioned tank size he looked, and stated because we asked for a specific tank size that required a tandem axle chassis, he was able to increase the allowed amount. He would re-send the info to our grant manager who should resend the amended 10Q..
Basically we were given a 200K (190 Fed, 10 Ours) and with a couple of phone calls and a discussion, look like we are being bumped up to the 275K level..
I brought this for 3 reasons..
1. they use a price basis, off of the last few years for each type of vehicle. regardless of true options (foam, etc).. single axle tender appears to be 200K
2. Double axle tender appears to be 275K
3. With talk, you might be able to (however inadvertently) give them information that was overlooked in why the reduction should not have occurred. while it is not actually negotiation, it does mean the letter saying you lose 1/3 of asking, does not have to be the final word....
(Note: Kind of an advertisement)
Wanted to thank BC79er, for his services, while we did not use him this go around, just seeing the detail of the grantwork he does is amazing, and gives you alot of information that you would have never thought of. So Kudo's to Brian and his staff.. Also, if you ever have the chance to get to one of his seminars, do it.. the info he imparts with these far exceeds the FEMA seminars (should go to those too of course, more info is better), but BC, gives more realism in his, not the pie-in-the-sky type of stuff that FEMA likes, and you can ask him more specific grant related questions that FEMA is not willing to usually commit on.
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