RELEASE: Gottheimer Announces New Federal Investment Clawed Back to Washington Township Police Department

$260,000+ clawed back for local law enforcement to protect Jersey residents & keep communities safe

 Helping to lower property taxes & make life more affordable

Above: Gottheimer with Washington Township Police Department’s new Humvee clawed back with federal resources.

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, NJ — U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) joined with the Washington Township Police Department in Bergen County to announce new equipment and resources clawed back through federal grant programs in 2021 and 2022 to help local law enforcement keep themselves and their communities safe — clawing more federal tax dollars back from Washington and the Moocher States and helping lower property taxes in North Jersey.

From trucks to front-end loaders, computers to monitors, and a Humvee — to help with rescues during extreme weather events — the Washington Township Police Department has utilized the federal Law Enforcement Support Office (LESO) and GSA Federal Surplus Property programs to reduce the cost burden on the Township’s budget and save hundreds of thousands of dollars of Township residents’ hard-earned tax dollars.

The equipment — valued at more than $260,000 across the span of just over a year from the LESO program alone — will support the department’s ability to protect Washington Township families from crime, the growing threat of natural disasters, and more.

“Before I was in office, the Fifth District only brought back $798,000 per year on average through the LESO program. Now, there are 30 new Fifth District towns since 2016 participating in the LESO program and millions of dollars clawed back every year — a huge increase for North Jersey — and a real savings to our taxpayers,” said Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), a member of the bipartisan Law Enforcement Caucus. “I want to thank our district’s towns and first responders, like the Washington Township Police Department, for going above and beyond in fighting to save taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars while better equipping their departments and helping make their towns even safer places to live.”

Gottheimer continued, “I was also proud to announce this month that we are now up 357 percent in our federal tax dollars that we’ve clawed back to Jersey from Washington, helping to lower our property taxes, to make life more affordable and safer, and to improve our Fifth District communities. In fact, in 2021 alone, we clawed back more than $750 for every single North Jersey household — dollars going back into the pockets of our hardworking families when they need them most.”

In Congress, Gottheimer is fighting to pass his legislation to invest in local law enforcement — the bipartisan, bicameral Invest to Protect Act — which will make critical, targeted investments in local police departments and ensure that police officers in smaller communities across the country have the resources and training they need to keep themselves and their communities safe.

Gottheimer announced this month that New Jersey’s Fifth District has clawed 357% more federal tax dollars back from Washington and the Moocher States since taking office. For the 2021 calendar year alone, the federal tax dollars clawed back amount to an average savings of $750 for each household in the Fifth District.

Below: Gottheimer at the Washington Township Police Department in Bergen County.

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