City Of Elizabeth

City Of Elizabeth, a municipality in Elizabeth, New Jersey, receives federal formula grants and project grants as a prime recipient for affordable housing development, community development, lead hazard remediation, public safety, and transit infrastructure planning, with no federal contracts or contract subwork in its current footprint. The city operates exclusively as a grant recipient rather than a contractor or subcontractor.

City Of Elizabeth's federal funding footprint is heavily concentrated in HUD's Community Planning and Development office, which accounts for 53 of the 85% of awards tracked across its top five customer agencies. The Department of Housing and Urban Development is the dominant funder, anchoring the city's work in affordable housing through recurring formula grants under the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (CFDA 14.239) and Community Development Block Grants (CDBG, CFDA 14.218). The city also receives project grants from the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (16 awards, primarily Summer Food Program sub-awards passed through the New Jersey Department of Agriculture), the Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance (8 awards for criminal justice equipment and personnel under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant, CFDA 16.738, and COPS Hiring Program grants), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (5 awards including a Port Security Grant Program award), and the Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Program (2 awards for law enforcement hiring and support).

Recent representative work includes a $949,772.85 HOME formula grant awarded January 26, 2026 through September 30, 2034 to finance rehabilitation of owner-occupied housing, homebuyer assistance, acquisition and construction of rental housing, and tenant-based rental assistance for low- and very low-income households. City Of Elizabeth received a $3,129,752 cooperative agreement from the EPA (CFDA 66.202, Congressionally Mandated Projects) in September 2024 to replace approximately 313 lead service lines and galvanized piping across the municipality by November 2028, meeting New Jersey's 2031 deadline for lead service line elimination. The city holds a $90,188 Justice Assistance Grant from October 2023 through September 2027 for advanced security equipment for the Elizabeth Police Department. In September 2024, the city received a project grant from the Federal Transit Administration to conduct a feasibility study for a ferry terminal and service connecting Elizabeth to Manhattan, with completion targeted for September 2026.

City Of Elizabeth also acts as a sub-recipient on pass-through federal grants from the New Jersey Department of Health (including Public Health Infrastructure Grant funding for workforce and data modernization, and STD/TB prevention programs), the New Jersey Department of Agriculture (Summer Food Program awards), and the New Jersey Department of Transportation (road improvement funding). The city's grant activity shows growth from three awards in 2022 to a peak of 19 in 2023, then declining to 12 in 2024 and 1 in 2025, with 2 awards appearing in the first half of 2026. Four awards with combined funding are scheduled for completion within the next twenty-four months, representing potential recompete or renewal opportunities in HUD housing and justice assistance programs. The city's federal footprint reflects its role as a municipal entitlement jurisdiction managing community development and public safety programs for a population of 137,298 residents.