An appellate court ruled Friday that municipalities have the right to a hearing to maintain money set aside for affordable housing. Gov. Chris Christie has made efforts to claim those funds for the state. New Jersey League of Municipalities Executive Director William Dressel told NJ Today Managing Editor Mike Schneider that the ruling is favorable because it allows towns to have due process.
Dressel said municipalities will be given the opportunity to make their case before the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) on why they should keep the money on the municipal level for affordable housing.
There are several reasons why municipalities might not have spent the money yet. Dressel said the guidelines for the law signed four years ago were just recently handed down so officials weren’t sure how to spend the money. Another reason is the poor economy.
“During the four-year time period from 2008 to 2012, there hasn’t been a lot of development taking place,” Dressel said. “I mean, this has been one of the worst recessions and particularly in the development community there hasn’t been a lot being done.”
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Even with the slumping economy, however, Dressel said some municipalities have taken affirmative steps to build housing, spending about $106 million in the four years. Friday’s decision will ensure the towns have their day in court, he said.
Dressel said he hopes officials can come to an agreement on the issue because if the money goes back into the general fund, the taxpayers will bear the burden since the obligation to have affordable housing remains.
“This could be another obligation that the property taxpayer’s going to have to foot the bill for and we think these dollars were earmarked. Let’s get together, let’s get the reasonable rules and regulations for the taxpayer, for the towns to be able to build affordable housing,” he said. “This thing … is ripe for incredible litigation. Keep in mind there’s over 200 towns that could also sue the state over this if they don’t feel they get a fair hearing so this could be a legal morass.”