Today, Governor Phil Murphy announced $60 Million in funding from the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) for the Local Government Emergency Fund that will be allocated to support counties and municipalities that were excluded from the federal government’s direct CRF allocation plan.
The New Jersey Department of Human Services (DHS) will also be providing up to $10 million from the Coronavirus Relief Fund to support the state’s County Boards of Social Services with COVID-related expenses such as technology to adapt to remote work, expanding to meet growing demand, and supplies and materials to meet COVID-19 health and safety standards.
Many New Jersey officials are in support of the CRF funding and believe New Jersey residents will benefit from this funding.
Congressman Donald Norcross says these resources will provide New Jersey’s local governments with funding that will help cover unexpected costs caused by the pandemic. He also says that the funding will help keep first responders and other essential workers safe and on the job.
Qualifying expenditures for the Local Government Emergency Fund include public safety and health-related expenses, COVID-19-related overtime, increased residential and health-related garbage collection and services, remote working technology, signage and information technology related to the COVID-19 response and recovery, and public health-related retrofit expenses for reopening.
Congressman Andy Kim says it is important to help communities to stay safe and healthy. She says she will continue to work with her colleagues in Congress to find bipartisan solutions to help New Jersey until the pandemic comes to an end and working people are back on their feet.
To further assist communities and small businesses in recovery efforts, DCA announced last week a $7.5 million federal appropriation through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act for three relief programs to help vulnerable small businesses financially impacted by the pandemic.
The programs aim to promote the continued recovery and revitalization of communities that currently participate in the Neighborhood Preservation Program (NPP), Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit Program (NRTC), and Main Street New Jersey Program
The CRF funding will provide support for 13 counties out of the 21 counties in New Jersey.
The Local Government Emergency Fund allocation formula uses a variety of relevant metrics, including the municipal COVID-19 infection rate, fiscal stress, the Municipal Revitalization Index (MRI), population, and public safety and health and human services expenditures share of the budget to determine the amount of funds counties and municipalities receive.
Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs ( DCA) Lt. Governor Sheila Y. Oliver says the DCA will work to distribute the funding equitable and fairly to the communities. “No one will be left behind,” she says.
The fund allocations by county (including distributions to municipal governments) are listed below.
Atlantic $6,318,936 Burlington $8,187,352 Cape May $1,305,162 Cumberland $6,391,225 Gloucester $4,858,821 Hunterdon $948,183 Mercer $12,593,962 Morris $8,415,816
Salem $1,538,872
Somerset $6,367,176
Sussex $1,319,462 Warren $1,755,034
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