Atlantic County municipalities use LEAP grants to expand shared services and cut costs

Several municipalities in Atlantic County said Local Efficiency Achievement Program grants awarded by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs helped them fund shared services that saved money and improved operations, Shared Services Coordinator Tim Kreischer said during a county outreach roadshow.

LEAP offers three types of grants, Kreischer said: challenge grants (up to $150,000 per county, maximum three awards per county), implementation grants (covering 75 percent of startup costs up to $400,000) and school consolidation studies (up to $250,000). Kreischer told listeners the program is intended to incentivize shared services among municipalities, school districts, authorities and counties.

The program paid for a range of projects described by local officials during interviews organized by the county.

Pleasantville Mayor Judy Ward described savings tied to a county cooperative purchasing program and training partnerships. "For the past two years, we've been buying from the county, and it saved us $40,000," Ward said, describing fuel purchases through the Atlantic County cooperative. Ward also said Pleasantville partnered with the Atlantic County Utilities Authority to offer Commercial Driver's License training locally after a state testing rule required groups of five to take tests together; the Atlantic County Workforce Development Board covered half the training cost, Ward said. She added that sharing an IT department with a neighboring municipality saved about $30,000 a year, and that Pleasantville moved court services to be handled by Atlantic City Court with staff hires retained by that court; the startup was aided by LEAP funding.

Egg Harbor Township officials described a $400,000 LEAP implementation grant used to add athletic-field lighting and related infrastructure on school property under a shared-services agreement with the local Board of Education. Township officials said the arrangement allowed the township to rest other fields, improve maintenance and expand youth recreation; Township Administrator Tom Dientino estimated the combined parties would save about $203,000 over the five-year shared-services agreement.

Ventnor officials described several public-safety–focused shared resources funded in part by LEAP. Mayor Tim Bridal said a mobile public-safety trailer funded with a $37,500 grant is shared among Ventnor, Margate and Longport and is used as a technology and coordination center during emergencies and large events. Commissioner Lance Landgraf described a LEAP-funded brining apparatus mounted in a dump truck used to pretreat roads for winter storms and shared across Ventnor, Margate and Longport. Landgraf also noted joint investments in a forcible-entry training prop and a shared calibration device for firefighters' SCBA equipment.

Absecon officials said they received a LEAP award to support a consolidated dispatch arrangement with Galloway Township. Jessica Thompson, the city's chief financial officer and business administrator, said Absecon was awarded $201,364 to assist with equipment and transition work and that the consolidated dispatch is intended to provide up-to-date equipment and staffing while spreading costs among partner municipalities. IT director Jen Harvey described technical work to create VPN connections and align equipment and workflows between the two dispatch centers.

Atlantic County Public Works and Northfield Public Works staff said a $64,000 LEAP grant purchased crash attenuators and arrow boards that the county now makes available to other municipalities. James Lanham, Atlantic County supervisor of roads, said municipalities can borrow the equipment at no charge; he listed a 12-town loan pool that includes Mullica, Egg Harbor City, Brigantine, Northfield, Buena Vista Township, Absecon, Linwood, Pleasantville, Margate, Folsom and other nearby municipalities.

Egg Harbor Township officials also highlighted a suite of shared services including central municipal court participation, senior nutrition sites, EMS arrangements, dispatching services, IT services provided to neighboring towns, and a floodplain mapping system that reduced staff time responding to flood-zone inquiries.

Officials emphasized that shared-service arrangements take many forms — joint equipment purchases, pooled professional services (engineering), co-located dispatch, shared training assets and cooperative purchasing — and that LEAP implementation grants are often used to cover startup costs that make the arrangements feasible. Multiple interviewees praised the Department of Community Affairs’ grant application materials and the SAGE electronic application system as the entry points for municipalities seeking LEAP funding.

Kreischer closed the roadshow segment by offering direct help to municipalities interested in LEAP: he said he can assist with identifying partners, drafting resolutions and preparing applications and provided a contact phone number (609) 464-3868. The Department of Community Affairs posts LEAP guidelines and the SAGE application portal on its website.

The interviews represent outreach and promotion by the county and participating municipal leaders about projects funded in whole or part by LEAP grants; no formal legislative or quasi-judicial actions were recorded during these interviews.