Grants & Awards: LGRMIF: Grant Application & Reference Material: General Information:

Introduction

The Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund (LGRMIF) grants program provides funds to help local governments establish records management programs or develop new program components.  It is a competitive program, awarding grants based on the merits of applications. The LGRMIF, created in 1989, is comprised of the fees collected by county clerks and the New York City Register for the recording of selected documents and for the assignment by county clerks of index numbers for certain court cases. The amount of grant funding available depends on the number of documents recorded and index numbers assigned each year. This will vary with the state of the economy (as reflected in housing sales and thus the recording of deeds and mortgages). 

The purpose of LGRMIF grants is not to support local government records management programs indefinitely.  Local governments are expected to assume primary responsibility for ongoing support of their programs by providing the resources to manage their records on a continuing basis. This is consistent with the 1987 Local Government Records Law (Article 57-A , Arts and Cultural Affairs Law), which requires most local governments to designate a Records Management Officer (RMO) and to develop a records management program.

On average, between 500 and 700 local governments apply each year. To increase their chances of funding, applicants should closely adhere to the application instructions and address the relevant category requirements outlined in this booklet.  The State Archives encourages local government officials to attend one of the many LGRMIF grant application workshops held in all regions of the state in the fall. In addition, the Archives’ Regional Advisory Officers (RAOs) are available to provide technical advice to local governments.  Applicants should direct questions regarding applications to the RAOs located in regional offices throughout the state (contact information is located on page 56 of these guidelines), or to the State Archives’ Grants Administration Unit in Albany at (518) 474-6926. Additional information may be found on the Archives’ website at www.archives.nysed.gov under “Grants and Awards.”