Credit: (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Among the more jarring stories shared with lawmakers during the latest round of public hearings on the state budget was the plight of a 94-year-old Newark man who recently showed up at a homeless shelter.

The ever-rising cost of his rent was the sole reason a nonagenarian was put out on the street and left seeking refuge at the shelter, according to Connie Mercer, executive director of the New Jersey Coalition to End Homelessness.

“He could no longer pay the escalating rent at the place where he had lived for over 30 years,” Mercer told members of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee earlier this month.

In addition to Mercer, many other advocates who testified over the course of four lengthy public hearings on the state budget shared concerns related to housing, including a growing homeless population and the increasingly high cost of owning or renting homes and apartments in New Jersey.

Housing affordability has been a perennial concern in New Jersey. But after several years of steady increases in the rate of inflation, including in housing, many during the budget hearings described the state’s current conditions as a crisis.

At ‘a critical point’

“The demand for affordable housing in New Jersey has reached a critical point and it is an issue that (will) only continue to grow,” said Miosha Lawrence, homeownership coordinator for the Camden-based Parkside Business & Community in Partnership organization.

“Many young professionals are leaving because they cannot afford to purchase here, or even rent here,” Lawrence said as she advocated for continued funding for New Jersey’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

A recent survey conducted by Stockton University’s polling institute brought out similar concerns. Nearly 80% of the registered voters surveyed by Stockton said the affordability of housing in their communities is “getting worse,” according to poll results released last week.

For his part, Gov. Phil Murphy has proposed a new state budget that is “prioritizing affordability,” according to a Budget in Brief document released by the administration. That prioritization includes allocating more funding for the housing trust fund and for a state-run down payment assistance program for first-time homebuyers.

A big break for seniors

As part of this same effort, the state would also spend $600 million on a new program called Stay NJ designed by Murphy and lawmakers specifically to address housing affordability concerns among seniors. But amid Stay NJ’s rollout, Murphy and lawmakers have faced lingering questions about their decision to prioritize this aid for one group of residents — senior homeowners — when many others, including young people still dreaming of homeownership and renters of all ages, are also getting crushed by rising costs.

Credit: (Rich Hundley III/Governor’s Office)

The proposed funding for the Stay NJ program increases the total amount allocated for direct property-tax relief programs in Murphy’s budget for the new fiscal year that begins July 1 above $4 billion.

That $4 billion includes $240 million for the long-standing Senior Freeze property-tax relief program for senior and disabled homeowners who meet certain income qualifications, as well as $3.5 billion for the Anchor benefit, which is distributed annually to homeowners making up to $250,000 annually, and renters making up to $150,000 annually.

Stay NJ’s $600 million would be distributed to senior homeowners with up to $500,000 in annual income, nearly five times the state’s median household income.

The latest proposed outlays for the direct property-tax relief programs, including Stay NJ, drew praise from Donato Niemen, state president of the AARP New Jersey advocacy organization during his own testimony before lawmakers.

Niemen cited data collected by the state Department of Community Affairs that indicated the average New Jersey property-tax bill rose above $10,000 for the first time ever last year.

“Fully funding New Jersey’s property-tax relief programs is essential to support older New Jerseyans who want to age in their homes and communities,” he said.

The rollout of the Stay NJ program has also been widely touted by majority Democratic lawmakers on the eve of this year’s Assembly elections, which will see control of the 80-member chamber in contention. In recent weeks, several bills aimed at improving the availability and affordability of housing in New Jersey have also advanced in the Assembly.

Criticism of Stay NJ

But the Stay NJ program itself continues to face a fair share of criticism, including from several advocacy groups, as well as some of the candidates running for governor this year to succeed the term-limited Murphy.

At issue is the total amount of funding allocated for Stay NJ benefits in Murphy’s overall $58 billion proposed budget. At $600 million, the expenditure represents one of the biggest year-over-year increases in Murphy’s spending plan at a time when many other line items are seeing only flat funding, or even reductions. Long-range estimates also project the cost of the program will eventually double, to more than $1.2 billion annually, with no identified way to cover the increase.

But also raised as a concern is who exactly will be getting the Stay NJ benefits — and who won’t be getting anything at all.

Under current plans, all senior renters, as well as other renters who may be teetering on the edge of homelessness in New Jersey, won’t benefit at all from this new, $600 million outlay.

Instead, the full amount earmarked for the Stay NJ program would be provided to an estimated 432,000 seniors who already own a home in New Jersey, a state where the average home value is nearly $550,000, according to data collected by Zillow.com.

Moreover, that $600 million would be distributed to senior homeowners who can have up to $500,000 in annual income, which is well above the income limits for Anchor and Senior Freeze benefits, and nearly five times the state’s median household income, according to recent U.S. Census data.

‘We urge you to revisit the current program and to prioritize financial relief for economically vulnerable households.’ — Nuzhat Chowdhury, New Jersey Institute for Social Justice

During the recent public hearings on the state budget, several policy advocates urged lawmakers to rethink Stay NJ, even as distribution of the first round of benefits is scheduled to begin in less than a year under an application process already underway.

Among them was Nuzhat Chowdhury, director of the democracy and justice program at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, an organization that recently released a report that detailed staggering racial disparities in rates of wealth and homeownership in New Jersey.

“The institute strongly urges the Legislature to reconsider the Stay NJ program, which is highly regressive and will lead to ongoing challenges in the budget moving forward,” Chowdhury said.

“We urge you to revisit the current program and to prioritize financial relief for economically vulnerable households,” Chowdhury said.

Also calling on lawmakers to make changes was Maura Collinsgru, director of policy and advocacy at New Jersey Citizen Action, an organization that works closely with some of the state’s lowest-income residents.

“We urge the Legislature to reconsider the Stay NJ program, and at least reduce its eligibility to means-test that program, because those who are most vulnerable in our state are going to need to be prioritized and we will need every resource to do that,” Collinsgru said.

This story is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.