New Jersey FY2023 Appropriation Act and the Impact on Local Government Grant Programs

On June 30, 2022, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed the FY2023 Appropriations Act into law. The $50.6 billion in authorized spending represents the largest budgetary appropriation in State history. Some highlights of this legislation include increased levels of spending in education, significant investments in transportation infrastructure, and tax relief for property owners throughout the State.

In addition, the Appropriations Act also reauthorizes and/or reintroduces several competitive grant programs applicable to municipal and county governments. Funding through these programs will support investments across a broad range of categories including, but not limited to recreation, parks, transportation, violence prevention, and economic development. Some examples of appropriations included in the bill are as follows:

Authorized Funding	Description
$100 Million	For the NJ Economic Development Authority to redevelop blighted commercial properties and other stranded assets, drive development around transit assets, and support projects led by developers of color
$100 Million	For the NJ Department of Transportation’s Local Transportation Projects Fund
$25 Million	For the NJ Department of Community Affairs’ Local Recreation Improvement Grant Program
$20 Million	For the NJ Department of Transportation’s Local Aid and Economic Development Grant Programs, including Transit Village, Safe Streets to Transit, and Bikeways
$15 Million	For arts support and placemaking to provide support for capital projects led by small to medium sized arts organizations and to incentivize placemaking and catalytic development in downtowns
$10 Million	For the NJ Department of Environmental Protection’s Urban Parks Grant Program
$10 Million	For the NJ Department of Law & Public Safety’s Community-Based Violence Prevention Program

The aforementioned programs represent a small snapshot of the total funding that will be available, in the form of competitive grants, to municipal and county governments throughout the State, and demonstrates a commitment by State leaders to continue to invest at the local level. “This budget both invests in New Jersey’s future while preparing for an uncertain global economy,” said Governor Murphy “We are making significant investments in new capital projects that will make New Jersey a better state to live in while creating countless good-paying jobs.”

While the ink has barely dried on this spending bill, now is as good of a time as ever for local governments to begin considering how they will approach these and other competitive State grant programs. Millennium Strategies has decades of experience helping municipal and county governments navigate complex State grant programs. If you would like to learn about our experience working through these programs or how we can assist with your planning efforts, please contact us today.