Local Government Efficiency Grant Gets $4M Addition

Another $4 million is available for the 2012-2013 local government efficiency (LGE) grant program.

The program is designed to help local governments find innovative ways to reduce local government costs and save taxpayer dollars through consolidation and reorganization. The competitive program is part of Governor Andrew Cuomo's agenda to reduce property taxes and shrink the size of government.

The Department of State has released a request for applications for municipalities to apply to the program.

Projects funded under last year’s LGE grant program are anticipated to produce multi-year savings of $45 million, a ten-to-one return on a one-time state investment of $4 million. Since the program’s inception, over 350 projects have been funded with a projected impact of over $550 million on future local expenditures.