Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts (D-Camden) announced the introduction of a bill on March 13 which will substantially impact current affordable housing legislation. Chief among the reforms is an elimination of Regional Contribution Agreements or “RCAs”, which Roberts has advocated for several months both in the press and behind the scenes. For a copy of the Speaker’s press release on the bill, A-500, click here.
According to a Star Ledger article:
The “central element” of his plan would eliminate a program that allows towns to pay poorer communities — mainly cities and older suburbs — that agree to use the money for affordable housing.
Under the deals known as RCAs, for “regional contribution agreements,” cities get much-needed cash while other towns are spared up to half their obligation as they comply with court rulings that declared even the richest communities must provide affordable housing for poorer residents.
“I have felt for a long period of time that it is poor public policy and has resulted in a concentration of poverty in New Jersey’s urban areas,” Roberts said.
To replace the money that wealthy towns send to cities each year for affordable housing, Roberts wants to take $20 million from the $380 million in annual state realty tax revenue and use it for urban housing through a new Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
Roberts says the trust fund can also be beefed up by increasing commercial development fees earmarked for housing to 2.5 percent, from 2 percent. He also wants to tap money that towns have raised from these fees but have not used on housing. Roberts estimates towns are now sitting on $160 million, and his bill would force them to “use it” on housing deals within four years or “lose it” to the state trust fund.
The elimination of RCAs may have a particularly dramatic impact on built-out communities which will find it nearly impossible to reach the number of affordable housing units allocated to them under proposed regulations issued by the Council on Affordable Housing. However, the legislation includes a requirement that any new rule or regulation consider the impact it will have on the affordablity and availability of housing. Additionally, the proposed increase in development fees (which will be based upon final equalized assessed value of land and improvements) creates yet another substantial cost to be borne by the commercial development community. Other changes include raising the median income of a family that will qualify for affordable housing from $63,000 for a family of four to approximately $87,000.
One message that appears to be underlying Roberts’ proposal is the understanding that recently-enacted environmental regulations have had a negative impact on development of affordable housing. According to the Ledger, “Roberts said that while he doesn’t want to “undo” environmental rules, ‘we need to go into these regulations with eyes open and realize that decisions made by a variety of different state departments affect whether or not we can build affordable housing.’”
We will be tracking the progress of this legislation. A copy of A-500 will be available at the Legislature’s home page here. For the full Star Ledger story by Tom Hester, click here.
As a follow-up to my prior blog entry regarding the draft report of the Department of Community Affairs Land Use and Planning Subcommittee, here is the enviros response, courtesy of the Asbury Park Press.
