Thirteen New Jersey towns will get $14 million to restore, reclaim or build new affordable housing for low-income residents. Gov. Chris Christie wanted to seize the $165 million languishing in affordable trust funds and the courts ruled he couldn’t do that without giving towns a chance to demonstrate how they would spend it. Fair Share Housing Center’s Staff Attorney Adam Gordon told NJTV News Anchor Mary Alice Williams that the towns receiving money is a step forward.
“It’s a really good step forward,” said Gordon. “We’re really glad after all the litigation over this, all the controversy to see there being 13 towns where there’s going to be homes being built for families. People with special needs and lower income seniors and we hope it’s a first step towards seeing that progress in many more towns around the state.”
Gordon said that the money will help finance over 1,000 homes and that it will also help fix existing homes.
“We’re just seeing a lot of progress from places around the state,” Gordon said.
According to Gordon, money will be funneled into the trust by the different policies each town has. He said that it is a decision that is made on the local level by the towns and that a lot of the funds come from fees. The fees are paid by developers building new homes or stores. According to Gordon, “They’ll pay a fee as part of that construction and that ends up being used by the town to build these homes.”
Some towns had been held back for some time because their spending plans had not been approved. Gordon said that it has been an effort over several years and that three or four years ago many towns were ready to move forward but had to deal with delays and litigation.
As for what the state can do to ensure all towns have a fair share of affordable housing, Gordon said that an important step would be approving plans in other towns and another would be to have rules in place.
“One important step would be to move forward with approving these plans in other towns and we’re hoping to see that happen in the coming months,” Gordon said. “That there will be more towns that have been waiting and we’ll get the go-ahead to build these homes. And another important thing is having rules in place for everybody that all towns do their fair share and there’s an ongoing process on that at the Council On Affordable Housing that’s playing out over the next few months.”