Grant helps to maintain public records, archives

FREEHOLD - In June, the New Jersey State Records Committee voted to award $25,000 to Freehold Borough for strategic, county-wide improvements in public archives and records management. The grant was authorized through the state's pioneering Public Archives and Records Infrastructure Support (PARIS) program.

The PARIS funded initiative in Freehold Borough is a municipal-wide inventorying, purging and reorganization project resulting in improved access to public records and storage costs savings, according to a press release.

Altogether, the state awarded more than $21.5 million in PARIS grants to New Jersey's 21 counties and to 37 municipalities.

Secretary of State Nina Mitchell-Wells, whose department oversees the administration of state and local public records, hailed the grant awards.

"County governments continue to function as regional service providers to New Jersey's citizens," Wells said. "The counties are continuing to take the lead in sharing services, not only with each other but with their constituent municipal governments. This equates to taxpayer savings throughout New Jersey."

Authorized by the Legislature in 2003 and launched in 2005, PARIS is the largest competitive grant program of its kind in the nation. It represents New Jersey's first statewide initiative to boost the efficiency, integrity and security of public records systems at the county and municipal levels. According to the press release, it will help to preserve more than three centuries of historical government archives and promote intergovernmental sharing of services and facilities.

In 2007, counties were eligible to apply for up to $1.25 million for a wide variety of records projects. The state Division of Archives and Records Management (DARM) administers the program.

PARIS will fund major advancements in county and municipal government archives and records programs statewide. According to Karl J. Niederer, DARM director, "PARIS grants will continue to address the need for building and improving the infrastructure of county and municipal records systems enterprise-wide."

New Jersey's local governments will use grant funds to boost the efficiency of filing, storing and accessing public records, preserve valuable archives, and drive down the administrative cost to taxpayers.

"PARIS will continue to have a strong focus on shared services, to not only create efficiencies in government, but to alleviate the burden on the taxpayers of New Jersey," Niederer said, adding, "we are proud at how strongly the notion of sharing services has been embraced by the counties."

According to the press release, PARIS encourages county and municipal governments to explore opportunities to partner in cooperative archives and records management ventures, including shared services and facilities. In this strategic vision the 21 county governments have a key role, each serving as a regional hub for records management, preservation and storage services, and most municipalities will be able to use their county's records facilities and services for convenient, secure off-site storage, document imaging

services, electronic records systems backup, etc.

Funded by document filing and recording fees collected by county clerks, PARIS is a key component of the New Jersey Public Records Preservation Program established by the state Legislature in July 2003.