Section 49.21. Reimbursement of municipalities for installation of teletypewriters

(a) Under section 3.4 of the act (35 P. S. § 1223.4), a municipality in this Commonwealth which installs a teletypewriter in its police headquarters, or other location designated by the municipality to enable deaf residents of the municipality to communicate requests for assistance in emergencies to the police or other designated emergency response organizations, may be reimbursed by the Department for the purchase and installation costs of the devices, subject to the availability of funds.

(b) To be eligible for reimbursement under this section, a municipality shall install teletypewriters having the following features. The teletypewriter shall:

(1) Be a Federal Communications Commission (FCC)-approved device.

(2) Be AC-powered.

(3) Have a battery-powered backup source capable of powering the unit for up to 3 hours.

(4) Have a typewriter-style layout.

(5) Have a minimum 20-character display/minimum 0.25 inch (6mm) character height.

(6) Have a battery-backed-up memory capable of storing conversations and storing and sending pretyped messages.

(7) Have a minimum 20-column printer.

(8) Have automatic answering capability.

(9) Have direct connection to telephone lines.

(10) Have keyboard dialing.

(11) Have the capability to communicate and transmit signals in Baudot and ASCII codes.

(c) The Department will notify municipalities of the availability of funds by publication of a notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. The notice will specify the amount of funds available, the official with whom applications for reimbursement shall be filed, the deadline for making the application and other information determined to be pertinent by the Department. For the convenience of both the municipalities and the Department, the Department will develop and make available an application form for use by the municipalities.

(d) Reimbursement to each eligible municipality under this section shall be limited to the cost of purchasing and installing one teletypewriter, unless additional funds remain, or are made available, after reimbursement is made to all eligible municipalities making application for reimbursement. Where an emergency communications center provides dispatch service for municipalities, the emergency communications center may file a single application for reimbursement on behalf of its member municipalities.

(e) If available funds are insufficient to fully reimburse the municipalities, the Department will prorate the funds as follows:

(1) The total amount of available funds will be divided by the number of municipalities applying, and determined eligible, for reimbursement to determine a proportional share.

(2) If the reimbursable costs of all of the municipalities exceed the proportional share, all municipalities will be reimbursed in an amount equal to the proportional share.

(3) If the reimbursable costs of a municipality are less than, or equal to, the proportional share, that municipality will be reimbursed for its full costs and these amounts will be deducted from the total amount of funds available.

(4) The amount of available funds remaining after the deductions specified in paragraph (3) will be divided by the number of municipalities remaining to be reimbursed to yield a new proportional share. These municipalities’ shares will be allocated based upon the new proportional share, using the steps outlined in paragraphs (2)—(4).

(5) The process in paragraphs (1)—(4) is subject to repetition any number of times until the available funds are exhausted or reimbursement is made to the eligible municipalities which apply.

The provisions of this § 49.21 adopted August 7, 1992, effective August 8, 1992, 22 Pa.B. 4091.

Notation

Cross References

This section cited in 34 Pa. Code § 49.2 (relating to jurisdiction and effective dates).