The Murphy administration is dolling out $161.25 million to New Jersey’s 21 counties to use on bridge and road upgrades across the state, according to a July 30 press announcement.
Bergen County, New Jersey’s most populous, is getting the highest grant at $13.7 million for the 2022 fiscal year, according to the New Jersey Department of Transportation. Following that is Ocean County, which is getting $12.9 million; Middlesex County, which is getting $11.2 million; and Monmouth and Burlington counties, which are both getting just over $10 million.
Gutierrez-Scaccetti
“County Aid provides millions of dollars to help improve roads and bridges without burdening local property taxpayers” through tax hikes, reads a statement from Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti, who heads the NJDOT.
The funds come out of the state’s Transportation Trust Fund, a pot of money filled via taxes levied on each gallon of gas.
Motorists pay 50.7 cents per gallon, and the state Treasury Department announces just before Labor Day each year if it will change the rates beginning Oct. 1.
Amid record-level drops in travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, last year the state increased the rate by 9.3 cents per gallon. Although travel has shot past last year’s levels this year, it has yet to overtake pre-pandemic figures.
