Murphy Administration Announces Final Round of Local Efficiency Achievement Program Grant Awards for 2023

• Posted on: 12/14/2023

Nearly $2 Million in LEAP Grants Will Help Promote and Encourage Shared Services Initiatives

TRENTON, NJ – The Murphy Administration and the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) today announced the award of the remaining 2023 Local Efficiency Achievement Program (LEAP) grants to local governmental entities across New Jersey. These grants, totaling $1,939,750, will help local governments pursue shared services initiatives to reduce taxpayer costs and enhance services. The grant awards will support the County Coordinator Fellowship program underway in several New Jersey counties while encouraging the design and implementation of a variety of shared services activities, including police consolidations, emergency dispatch, sanitation, and street sweepers for public works.

In 2018, Governor Phil Murphy appointed former mayors Nicolas Platt, of Harding Township, and Jordan Glatt, of Summit, to serve as Shared Services Czars. They are ready and available to provide guidance and support to local governments considering entrance into a shared service agreement.

“Shared services continue to prove their value as an effective way for local governments to reduce expenses and enhance services for taxpayers. They are a win-win for neighboring towns that are looking for innovative ways to coordinate and streamline resources,” said Governor Murphy. “Over the last several years, LEAP grants have become a very valuable incentive in getting shared service agreements across the finish line throughout New Jersey. We are proud to see the grant program working and pleased that local leaders continue to take advantage of the grants to improve the communities they serve.”

“The award of another round of LEAP grants this year shows the steadfast commitment the Murphy Administration and DCA have to helping local governments make shared services a reality,” said DCA Acting Commissioner Jacquelyn A. Suárez. “Shared services can and do work. We look forward to seeing the progress local governments make with these grants, and we hope more communities take advantage of the LEAP program in future funding rounds.”

“When we started our work to help New Jersey municipalities and counties find taxpayer savings through shared services we didn’t anticipate how open local governments would be to the message. The LEAP grants have become an invaluable tool for us to help local governments jumpstart their shared services projects,” said New Jersey Shared Services Czars Nicolas Platt and Jordan Glatt. “We’re excited to see the headway being made with shared services agreements and we’re optimistic more agreements will be completed as local governments see the value in sharing their resources.”  

There have been a total of 96 LEAP grants, amounting to nearly $15 million, awarded since the program launched in December 2019.

The LEAP program, which is administered by DCA’s Division of Local Government Services (DLGS), is comprised of three grant opportunities:

• Challenge Grants, which promote innovation and collaboration on more expansive projects that produce shared services of notable significance;
• Implementation Grants, which assist local governments in covering costs associated with the implementation of shared services and school feasibility studies; and
• County Coordinator Fellowship Grants, which support the position of a full-time or part-time County Shared Service Coordinator to identify and advance potential shared services within a county.

The following local governmental entities were awarded the final LEAP grants for 2023:

Local Government (Lead Applicant)	Project	Grant Type	Grant Award
Garfield City	Garfield/Bergen County 911 Dispatch Services Consolidation	Implementation	$400,000
Woodbury City	Woodbury/Woodbury Heights Police Consolidation	Implementation	$500,000
Milltown Borough	Street Sweeping Services	Implementation	$225,000
Toms River Township	Solid Waste Removal	Implementation	$171,000
Somerset County	Street Sweeping Collection Facility	Implementation	$400,000
Seaside Heights Borough	Street Sweeper for Seaside Heights and Seaside Park	Implementation	$243,750

 

To encourage and support local governments’ interest in shared services, DLGS established the Local Assistance Bureau (LAB), which provides technical assistance to local officials and staff for each step of the shared services process from identification through implementation. The LAB team is comprised of former municipal professionals who possess the expertise and accumulated knowledge, skill sets, and insights to bring an inventive and skilled outlook to the field of municipal shared services. Staffing expertise ranges from police, fire, emergency management services, municipal court, finance, business administrators/managers, and public works.

The FY2024 LEAP grant application and guidelines are now posted at https://www.nj.gov/dca/dlgs/programs/Leap_grants.shtml on the DCA website. The deadline to apply is April 15, 2024.

Local governments interested in learning more about LEAP and shared services can send an email to localassistance@dca.nj.gov or visit
www.nj.gov/dca/divisions/dlgs/programs/lab.html.

In addition to local government services, DCA offers a wide range of programs, including affordable housing production, fire safety, building safety, community planning and development, disaster recovery and mitigation, historic preservation, and information privacy.

For more information about DCA, visit https://nj.gov/dca/ or follow the Department on social media: