Image courtesy of Jenkintown Borough
As budget talks dominate municipal meetings this time of the year, seeking out grant funding can be a big part of the process. Jenkintown Borough recent released a list of the grants the borough has been awarded.
From county to state to federal levels, an assortment of authorities has made funding possible for borough projects. In total, the list tallies up over $3.85 million to assist in a wide variety of initiatives for Jenkintown.
The largest on the list is a grant awarded to the borough through the Local Share Account or “LSA,” a statewide funding source for Pennsylvania municipalities. Jenkintown was able to obtain $800,000 in order to work on the borough hall building.
Projects for borough hall improvements include the following:
LSA funds are secured through the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act, a 2004-created amended law that provides for the “distribution of gaming revenues through the Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA) to support projects in the public interest within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” explains the state’s Department of Community and Economic Development.
A 2019 state grant, called “Small Water – H2O” for the amount of $390,784, comes in as the second largest on the list. These funds are used to continue projects for a sanitary sewer main lining. Another, from the same source and for the same purpose, stems from a 2018 grant totaling $150,000.
Four grants on the list came from the Montgomery County level of government. Two are from a service called the “Community Development Block Grant” (CDBG) program. CDBG is an entitlement funding from the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for “the purpose of promoting revitalization throughout the county,” reads the county website. A 2021 county grant from CDBG allowed for $150,000 to go toward a 2020 handicap ramp paving project, while the second from 2022 committed $200,000 for a 2023 paving project of handicapped ramps.
Two more grants from the county came from 2040 Implementation grants. The “Montco 2040: A Shared Vision” comprehensive plan, adopted in 2021, began to outline and distribute funding to permit goal projects to be completed. Distributions in the coming years are designed to make steady progress to meet each goal described in the county’s plan.
In Jenkintown, a 2022 amount of $48,000 was utilized to extend the Walnut Street school zone to include Hillside Avenue. A 2023 total of $52,000 was granted to assist with York Road traffic calming measures, including signage, striping, and rumble strips.
“Jenkintown Borough staff and professionals continue to identify and make application for funding of priority projects, saving the borough taxpayers money by recapturing federal, state, and county tax dollars,” read a recent email from the borough to area residents. “Funding sources are chosen with low or no-match requirements to further reduce the burden to Jenkintown Borough taxpayers.”
