Program Provides Grants to Reimburse Expenses for Planning and Implementation Costs Related to Government Consolidation

Grant Program is Available to Municipalities Throughout the Year; Municipalities Can Apply Here 

The New York State Department of State today announced that $1 million is available for the Citizens Reorganization Empowerment Grant (CREG).  The CREG program provides up to $100,000 to local governments to plan for and implement municipal restructuring.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to quickly adapt and develop new approaches to make government more efficient in the delivery of services,” said Brendan C. Hughes, Acting Secretary of State. “The availability of the CREG grant program will help support local efforts to assess the way governments are structured and provide resources for localities seeking to consolidate. I encourage our partners in local government to take advantage of this critical program.”

Local government entities including towns, villages, fire districts, special improvement districts or other improvement districts, library districts, and other districts created by law are eligible to apply. The maximum cumulative CREG Award for a local government re-organization shall not exceed $100,000. In order for awardees to receive full funding, the findings from any reorganization studies/plans must be presented to the public and such re-organization studies/plans must be adopted by the governing board(s).

Eligible projects include:

• Re-organization planning;
• Re-organization implementation;
• Expedited re-organization assistance in response to a petition filed by the electors of a local government. 

The CREG program accepts applications from municipalities throughout the year. Deadline to submit an application is the first Wednesday of each month. Applications are available here.

The Local Government Efficiency (LGe) program, administered by the New York Department of State Division of Local Government Services, provides financial and technical assistance to local governments for planning and implementation activities necessary for the re-organization of municipal government and government functions. The LGe program provides the opportunity for local government officials to examine and implement new initiatives that can help reduce the growth in municipal expenses and introduce new efficiencies in the delivery of services. For more information on programs administered by the Department of State’s Division of Local Government Services, go to https://www.dos.ny.gov/lg/. Follow DOS on Twitter at @NYSDOS or Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NewYorkDepartmentOfState/.

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