NJDOT awards $76.091 million
in grants
to New Jersey municipalities
Local aid will fund street improvement projects and relieve property taxes
(Trenton) - Commissioner Kris Kolluri today announced that the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) will award $76.091 million in Municipal Aid (pdf 62 kb) to fund street improvement, rehabilitation and safety projects in 434 New Jersey towns.
"Through the Municipal Aid program, we are providing direct property tax relief while improving our quality of life by stimulating economic growth and improving our road networks,” said Governor Corzine. “I am proud that we are using the Transportation Trust Fund to provide the largest capital program in New Jersey history and supply much-needed support to municipalities.”
Municipal Aid grants provide funding to municipalities that would otherwise devote local tax revenue to road improvement projects. Municipal governments maintain over 25,000 miles, or approximately 70 percent, of New Jersey's 36,000 miles of roadway. Local property taxes seldom provide sufficient funds for proper roadway repair and maintenance.
"This program underscores the Transportation Trust Fund’s vitality to the maintenance of our transportation infrastructure,” said Kolluri. “As a result of Governor Corzine’s replenishment of the TTF, NJDOT this year is providing municipalities with more aid for transportation projects than ever, and $8.59 million more than in Fiscal Year 2006.”
NJDOT encourages municipalities to apply for Municipal Aid funding through its Local Aid Division. The grant program covers a variety of projects, including road resurfacing, rehabilitation, reconstruction and signalization.
The Municipal Aid program is directly funded by the Transportation Trust Fund. NJDOT allots each county a specific funding amount based on its population and road mileage and distributes funds to towns based on field investigations and engineering evaluations of proposed projects. NJDOT provides 75% of the amount of the grant when it awards a contract and the remaining 25% upon completion of the project.
NJDOT's Municipal Aid grant program is very popular and extremely competitive. This year, NJDOT will fund 436 of the 781 grant requests received. Funding for this popular program also is limited; NJDOT received over $220 million in requests.
