Assemblyman Josh Jensen (R,C,I-Greece) is proud to have introduced legislation that would establish the “Local Government Capital Improvement Grant Program” to help small communities across New York State afford improvements to critical municipal infrastructure (A.5365). 

“Many of our small communities across New York are struggling with aging municipal infrastructure and based on the size of their tax base they are unable to afford critical improvements.” said Jensen. “By creating a capital improvement grant program, the state can ensure that small communities are able to respect their taxpayers, while investing in these improvements along with the programs that their communities rely on every day.”

The “Local Government Capital Improvement Grant Program” would be available for municipalities of less than 7,500 residents and would provide 50% matching grants for non-transportation related infrastructure improvement projects over $100,000 on government owned property that accounts for at least 10% of a municipality’s budget.

By helping smaller communities afford critical municipal improvements through a matching grant, this program would the state to offset local taxpayer investment in projects that do not have any direct effect on day to day life in the community other than a substantial annual budgetary line-item. By providing a matching grant, New York State can help local governments prioritize their spending by offsetting future recurring maintenance costs, allowing for municipalities to continue to provide needed services to their residents.