Jersey Journal (New Jersey)
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TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey municipalities, including Jersey City, have forfeited $2.78 million in homeland security grants for failing to use them, the state Attorney General's Office said.

In some cases grant money was available but unused for more than three years, even though some municipalities had asked for the money for specific needs, Gannett New Jersey reported for yesterday's newspapers.

"There was a survey to assess where towns were, and could they document that they had spent dollars or intended to spend money," said David Wald, spokesman for Attorney General Stuart Rabner. "There were towns that could not show us this documentation, and they lost their grants."

Jersey City left $143,600 unspent, although it used $521,000 of its grants, Wald said. Jersey City spokesman Stan H. Eason said he believes the city spent all the allotted grant money.

"We dispute that the city will be returning $143,000 because the preliminary search of our records show that we exhausted those funds with the purchase of a new E-1 (emergency response) truck priced at $521,000," Eason said. "Another $25,000 went toward a Fire Department mobile command center, and there were other items purchased. We believe all the money was spent."

Newark, the state's largest city, left $191,250 on the table - 70 percent of its grants. Edison left $170,000 on the table.

Since the program came without a deadline, officials in Edison said they were surprised by an April 2006 notice from the Attorney General's Office that gave them seven days to show they were using the grants.