State Archives Awards $5.2 Million to Local Governments and Educational Institutions to Improve Records Management

The New York State Archives awarded $5.2 million in Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund (LGRMIF) grants to 87 local governments, school districts, and educational institutions across the state to help improve records management systems to better serve the public, State Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa announced today. These grants support an array of projects including helping local governments manage paper records, converting historic documents and microfilm to electronic records, and backing up archival and vital records such as maps, deeds and mortgages, cemetery records, meeting minutes, and other important documents.

Board of Regents Chancellor Lester W. Young, Jr. said, "We take great pride in supporting initiatives that enhance records management and safeguard important documents essential to New York's rich history. This funding will help ensure that municipalities and institutions can continue to provide records access, management, and other important services to citizens in their communities."

Commissioner Rosa said, “These funds benefit communities by providing vital services which not only preserve the historical legacy of our state for future generations through document preservation, but also enable school districts and local governments to position themselves for adaptability, growth, and continued improvement to meet and exceed the ever-changing needs of their constituents, stakeholders, and students.”

The New York State Archives, part of the State Education Department, administers the LGRMIF grants, which are used by local governments to improve their record management systems to better serve the public. It is a competitive program with grants awarded based on the merits of the applications. The LGRMIF derives its revenues from a small fee paid when people file or record documents with county clerks and the Register of the City of New York.

Since its inception in 1988, the program has provided over $246 million in competitive grant funds to local governments statewide to support a variety of projects. For example, the County of Dutchess received $17,175 to continue its Ancient Document Project. The project will provide funds to process, digitize, index, and provide free online access to court filings contained in the collection. Dating from 1721 through 1889, the county’s Ancient Document Collection contains the filings and other incidental reports from the Dutchess County Courts of Common Pleas and General Sessions. These records preserve a unique record of daily life in the county along with insights into the significant and under-studied role played by the courts in county governance.

Additionally, project categories include:

Disaster Management: projects aimed at developing, testing, and implementing disaster and business recovery plans to protect local government archival and vital records, both hardcopy and electronic.
Inactive Records: projects aimed at planning, developing, or improving the management of records during the inactive phase of their life cycle. Inactive records are records that are used infrequently but must be retained because their retention periods have not yet expired.
Historical Records: projects aimed at preserving historical records or using local government records as teaching tools in the community and in the classroom.
Files Management: projects aimed at improving the systematic control of active files.
Document Conversion and Access: projects aimed at converting records to another format through the use of microfilming or imaging.

Grant projects and all related work must be completed by June 30, 2024.

“After thirty-five years, these grants continue to help local governments embrace the records management opportunities offered by new technology, e-government services, and shared services,” said Christian Sampson, former Town of Ramapo Town Clerk and chair of the Local Government Records Advisory Council, which provides advice and guidance to the State Education Department on programs and grants to support records management in local governments in New York State.

Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund Grants

Awards for the LGRMIF grants range from $7,992 to $154,055. Awards by county are provided below:

LGRMIF Grant Awards
County	Institution	Category	Approved
Albany	County of Albany	Document Conversion and Access	$149,293
Broome	Windsor Central School District	Document Conversion and Access	$55,540
Broome	Vestal Central School District	Document Conversion and Access	$75,000
Cattaraugus	Salamanca City School District	Document Conversion and Access	$61,558
Delaware	Village of Margaretville	Inactive Records	$22,685
Delaware	Walton Central School District	Inactive Records	$50,135
Dutchess	County of Dutchess	Document Conversion and Access	$17,175
Dutchess	City of Poughkeepsie	Document Conversion and Access	$50,000
Erie	Kenmore-Tonawanda Union Free School District	Document Conversion and Access	$74,100
Erie	Frontier Central School District	Document Conversion and Access	$74,327
Erie	Town of Eden	Document Conversion and Access	$74,965
Erie	Town of Evans	Document Conversion and Access	$74,999
Franklin	Town of Franklin (Franklin)	Inactive Records	$21,420
Franklin	Brushton-Moira Central School District	Inactive Records	$43,625
Franklin	County of Franklin	Document Conversion and Access	$73,720
Jefferson	Town of Lyme	Inactive Records	$38,494
Kings	New York City Board of Education	Document Conversion and Access	$74,999
Livingston	County of Livingston	Disaster Management	$9,600
Madison	City of Oneida	Document Conversion and Access	$65,105
Nassau	New Hyde Park-Garden City Park Union Free School District	Files Management	$24,880
Nassau	Village of Plandome Heights	Document Conversion and Access	$25,094
Nassau	Village of Brookville	Inactive Records	$27,725
Nassau	County Of Nassau	Document Conversion and Access	$74,790
New York	New York City Administration for Children’s Services	Document Conversion and Access	$73,914
New York	New York City Commission on Human Rights	Document Conversion and Access	$74,968
New York	New York City Department for the Aging	Document Conversion and Access	$61,726
New York	New York City Department of Buildings	Document Conversion and Access	$68,543
New York	New York City Department of City Planning	Document Conversion and Access	$73,410
New York	New York City Department of Correction	Document Conversion and Access	$75,000
New York	New York City Department of Design and Construction	Document Conversion and Access	$45,429
New York	New York City Department of Finance	Document Conversion and Access	$75,000
New York	New York City Department of Parks and Recreation	Document Conversion and Access	$74,909
New York	New York City Department of Records and Information Services	Administrative (DORIS only)	$154,055
New York	New York City Fire Department	Document Conversion and Access	$75,000
New York	New York City Law Department	Document Conversion and Access	$74,999
New York	New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission	Inactive Records	$31,000
Oneida	Town of Forestport	Historical Records	$15,756
Oneida	City of Utica	Inactive Records	$72,428
Onondaga	Village of Liverpool	Document Conversion and Access	$39,481
Onondaga	County of Onondaga	Document Conversion and Access	$75,000
Ontario	Town of Farmington	Document Conversion and Access	$74,890
Ontario	County of Ontario	Document Conversion and Access	$65,808
Ontario	Victor Fire District	Inactive Records	$23,177
Orange	Village of Warwick	Inactive Records	$15,650
Orange	Highland Falls Central School District	Document Conversion and Access	$41,910
Orange	Orange-Ulster BOCES	Document Conversion and Access	$147,899
Otsego	Town of Richfield	Inactive Records	$13,891
Otsego	City of Oneonta	Inactive Records	$60,450
Putnam	Town of Kent	Document Conversion and Access	$73,158
Putnam	County of Putnam	Document Conversion and Access	$50,150
Rensselaer	Questar III (R-C-G) BOCES	Document Conversion and Access	$41,690
Rockland	Village of Piermont	Document Conversion and Access	$19,640
Rockland	Village of Wesley Hills	Document Conversion and Access	$23,684
Rockland	Village of Airmont	Document Conversion and Access	$74,290
Saratoga	Town of Malta	Inactive Records	$16,320
Saratoga	Corinth Central School District	Document Conversion and Access	$71,982
Saratoga	Harmony Corners Fire District	Inactive Records	$45,651
Schenectady	City of Schenectady	Inactive Records	$57,850
Schoharie	Town of Summit	Inactive Records	$7,992
Schoharie	County of Schoharie	Document Conversion and Access	$74,872
Seneca	Seneca Falls Central School District	Document Conversion and Access	$49,136
Seneca	Romulus Central School District	Document Conversion and Access	$71,060
Suffolk	Springs Union Free School District	Inactive Records	$69,254
Suffolk	County of Suffolk	Document Conversion and Access	$75,000
Suffolk	Brentwood Union Free School District	Document Conversion and Access	$75,000
Suffolk	Longwood Central School District	Document Conversion and Access	$75,000
Suffolk	Town of Islip	Inactive Records	$75,000
Suffolk	Town of Brookhaven	Inactive Records	$150,000
Suffolk	Town of Smithtown	Document Conversion and Access	$149,998
Suffolk	Blue Point Fire District	Inactive Records	$28,956
Suffolk	Holtsville Fire District	Inactive Records	$16,424
Sullivan	Town of Fallsburg	Document Conversion and Access	$74,997
Tompkins	County of Tompkins	Document Conversion and Access	$46,002
Ulster	County of Ulster	Document Conversion and Access	$57,050
Ulster	Ulster BOCES	Document Conversion and Access	$73,958
Washington	County of Washington	Document Conversion and Access	$145,215
Wayne	Williamson Central School District	Document Conversion and Access	$74,029
Wayne	Newark Central School District	Document Conversion and Access	$74,818
Wayne	North Rose-Huron Fire District	Inactive Records	$35,089
Westchester	Town of New Castle	Document Conversion and Access	$35,720
Westchester	Village of Port Chester	Document Conversion and Access	$47,585
Westchester	Union Free School District of the Tarrytowns	Document Conversion and Access	$64,830
Westchester	New Rochelle City School District	Document Conversion and Access	$68,872
Westchester	Lakeland Central School District	Document Conversion and Access	$73,912
Westchester	Town of Harrison	Document Conversion and Access	$74,925
Westchester	Town of Mamaroneck	Document Conversion and Access	$74,997
Yates	Village of Dresden	Historical Records	$20,956