Senator Christopher “Kip” Bateman a member of the Senate Environment Committee introduced legislation that would overhaul and reform New Jersey’s decades-old affordable housing law.
“The current affordable housing law is more than 30 years old and has been ineffective in creating more affordable housing opportunities for New Jersey’s workforce,” Bateman stated. “The law raises property taxes, encourages sprawl and congestion, slows job growth, and creates overcrowding in our children’s classrooms. We must stop the piecemeal revisions to this law and adopt a new law that imposes real reform on this vital public policy objective.”
The major policy changes in the bill are:
- Requires municipalities to set aside a portion of development fee trust funds for the purpose of providing affordability assistance to low and moderate income households;
- Towns would not be required to add housing based on projected commercial and industrial growth of a municipality;
- Restores the regional contribution agreement method of meeting affordable housing obligations;
- Repeals the 2.5% statewide non-residential development fee on commercial and industrial developers;
- requires the state to properly fund any COAH mandate to ensure that local taxpayers are not left to assume the burden;
- Adjusts the affordable housing obligation number of any municipality required to raise property taxes to meet their obligation;
- Prohibits vacant land adjustments from counting towards a municipality’s obligation – when a town proves that a parcel of land can not be built upon;
- Eliminates the cap on existing housing units that may be used to satisfy a municipality’s fair share obligation;
- Prohibits a municipality from charging a development fee to a person rebuilding or reconstructing their primary residence due to a natural disaster;
- Permits municipalities to meet affordable housing obligations through rental voucher programs;
- Permits rehab units to count towards COAH obligation;
- Authorizes occupancy preference for veterans in all affordable housing units;
- requires the Trust Fund to produce an annual report and imposes penalties if the report is not provided; and
- Allocates sufficient time for municipalities to submit affordable housing plans.
“This complete overhaul of the byzantine tangle of affordable housing rules and regulations will encourage job growth, preserve open space and farmland, end overcrowding in our schools and stimulate the construction of more affordable housing Further it protects middle class homeowners from increases in the property tax that are sure to come under the current system,” Bateman concluded.
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July 17, 2008
