Christie Administration announces $4.1 million
in Local Aid grants to help control property taxes

18 grants will advance Transit Village, bikeway and other projects

These state-funded grant programs benefit residents by enabling local governments to significantly reduce or eliminate reliance on local property tax dollars to support their projects.

Combined with $86.5 million in Local Aid grants benefitting 382 municipalities through the state-funded Municipal Aid and federally funded Transportation Enhancement programs that were announced last week, the Christie Administration has recently delivered nearly $91 million in funding commitments to help local governments control property taxes.

“The Christie Administration understands the importance of the Local Aid program and has made it a priority to maintain high funding levels for these grant programs that improve roadways and help build safety and quality-of-life projects,” said NJDOT Commissioner James Simpson. “Our state and federally funded grant programs deliver $165 million annually to municipalities and counties.”

Local System Support, including funding for planning organizations as well as the direct grant programs, averages about $375 million annually.

Of the $4.1 million in grants announced today, $1 million will be distributed to five municipalities that participate in the Transit Village (pdf 26k) program. Another four municipalities will benefit from three Bikeways grants (pdf 23k) worth a combined $1 million. Two of the Bikeways grants go directly to municipalities, while one grant to Somerset County will advance a project in Raritan and Somerville boroughs. A total of six municipalities will share $1 million in Safe Streets to Transit grants (pdf 26k), while three municipalities will share nearly $1.1 million in Local Aid Infrastructure Fund grants (pdf 14k).

More information on the Local Aid program is available on the NJDOT website.