Murphy Administration Announces Local Efficiency Achievement Program Grant Awards for Fiscal Year 2025

• Posted on: 07/7/2025

More Than $5.9 Million in LEAP Grants Will Help Promote and Accomplish Shared Services Initiatives

TRENTON, NJ – The Murphy Administration, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA), and the State’s Shared Services Czars today announced the Local Efficiency Achievement Program (LEAP) grant awards for fiscal year 2025. These grants, totaling $5,922,935, provide financial assistance to local government entities such as counties, municipalities, school districts, authorities, and fire districts across the State of New Jersey to identify, study, and implement shared services initiatives. The program, which is administered by DCA’s Division of Local Government Services (DLGS), is aimed at encouraging towns to incorporate shared service agreements into their management strategies to increase governmental efficiency, enhance community services, and help save taxpayer dollars.

Former Mayors Nicolas Platt of Harding Township and Jordan Glatt of the City of Summit, who were appointed by Governor Murphy in 2018 to serve as bipartisan Shared Services Czars responsible for leading the State’s shared services efforts, are available to help guide local governments that are interested in applying to LEAP and are considering a shared service agreement.

“Shared services continue to prove their value as an effective tool for local governments to reduce expenses and streamline resources. It’s a win-win for neighboring communities that are looking for innovative ways to coordinate and even enhance their existing services,” said DCA Commissioner Jacquelyn A. Suárez. “We are pleased that local leaders across the state are taking advantage of these taxpayer-saving opportunities, and we look forward to the resulting shared service agreements that come from this new round of LEAP grants.”

“When we started on a joint mission to help New Jersey’s local governments find taxpayer savings, we didn’t realize how well accepted or successful it would be. The LEAP grants have become a valuable tool for us to help give local governments the incentive they need to move forward from idea to reality,” said New Jersey Shared Services Czars Nicolas Platt and Jordan Glatt. “We’re proud to play a meaningful role in supporting communities’ efforts to achieve efficiencies and find new ways to cut costs.”

The LEAP grants provide direct support to advance shared service implementation across New Jersey. Since the program launched in fiscal year 2020, there have been 150 LEAP grants awarded, totaling more than $22.3 million.

The LEAP program 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 Shared Services Coordinator 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.

For a complete description of each grant, please visit https://www.nj.gov/dca/dlgs/programs/Leap_grants.shtml.

Challenge Grant

• Berlin Township - $80,000 for EMS Shared Services Feasibility Study
• Passaic County - $100,000 for countywide EMS Shared Services Feasibility Study
• Wayne Township - $50,000 for Solid Waste Management Feasibility Study
• Woolwich Township - $75,000 for Regional Professional Fire Company Feasibility Study

County Shared Services Coordinator Grant

• Atlantic County - $75,000
• Bergen County - $75,000
• Camden County - $37,500
• Cumberland County - $37,500
• Essex County - $75,000
• Hudson County - $75,000
• Mercer County - $75,000
• Monmouth County - $75,000
• Passaic County - $75,000
• Salem County - $37,500
• Somerset County - $37,500
• Union County - $67,010.63

Implementation Grant

• Atlantic County - $57,375 for Shared Digital Message Boards
• Atlantic County - $300,000 for Shared GIS and Assessment Software
• Atlantic County - $28,125 for Shared Speed Feedback Signs
• Atlantic County - $73,891 for Shared Website Content Management Systems Platform
• Camden County - $250,000 for Public Safety Shared Services
• Dennis Township School District - $90,100 for Shared Transportation Vehicle
• Downe Township - $225,000 for Street Sweeper Shared Service
• Keansburg Borough- $250,000 for Shared Dispatch Services
• Lake Como Borough - $39,500 for Code Enforcement Shared Services
• Long Beach Township - $225,000 for Water/Sewer Shared Service
• Manchester Township - $150,000 for Radio Communication Shared Service
• Mercer County - $325,000 for Emergency Hazardous Material Agreement
• Monmouth County - $300,000 for Monmouth County Sheriff Emergency Medical Services
• Morganville Fire Department (Marlboro Township FD No. 3) - $200,000 for Fire Communications Shared Service
• Morris County - $145,400 for Morris/Somerset Inmate Transportation
• Passaic County - $200,000 for Shared Fiber Optic Internet Network
• Plumsted Municipal Utilities Authority - $300,000 for Utility Management Services
• Plumsted Township - $187,500 for Shared Municipal Court Services
• Robbinsville Township - $200,000 for Shared Dispatch Equipment Outfitting
• Scotch Plains Township - $115,091 for Tax Collector Shared Service
• Sea Girt Borough - $265,589.78 for Street Sweeper Shared Service
• Somerdale Borough - $187,500 for Municipal Court Shared Services
• Somerset County - $200,000 for Shared Commercial Drivers License (CDL) Training
• Stafford Township - $360,852.40 for Building Inspection Shared Services
• Wildwood City - $75,000 for Emergency Dispatch Services Consolidation
• Wildwood Crest Borough - $125,000 for Uniform Construction Code Shared Services

To encourage and support local governments’ interest in shared services, DLGS established the Local Assistance Bureau (LAB), which provides technical assistance to local officials 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.

For further information about LEAP Grant guidelines and required documentation, visit https://www.nj.gov/dca/dlgs/programs/Leap_grants.shtml.
To request information about LEAP Grants, email DLGS.LEAPgrant@dca.nj.gov.
For information on shared services more broadly, email sharedservices@nj.gov.

DLGS serves as an advocate for local government interests and provides technical and financial assistance in budgeting, financial reporting, joint services, purchasing, and management issues. It is responsible for the financial integrity of all local government units and reviews and approves all municipal, county, and fire district budgets. The Division also reviews many local government financial actions and governs and guides the conduct of local government officials.

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: