Monroe officials have until July 17 to spend nearly $10 million set aside for affordable housing, or it may have to surrender the funds to the state.
The funds, derived from development fees over the years, are among nearly $200 million statewide that municipalities have accrued to help meet their obligations to the state Council on Affordable Housing (COAH). The state is now threatening to seize the trust fund monies and determine how they are used.
Monroe has $9.7 million, according to the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs website. Statewide, only Marlboro Township in Monmouth County has more uncommitted affordable housing funds.
In an interview with the Sentinel, Township Council President Gerald W. Tamburro said Monroe officials have been committed to providing affordable housing, but have not received clear direction regarding COAH’s current requirements. A state appellate court recently reinstated COAH after Gov. Chris Christie had abolished it.
“Without COAH, we had no ground rules as to what the requirements were,” he said. “We and other towns are just in the dark about the requirements.”
Even before the agency was abolished, officials had not received word about the township’s plan to meet its obligations based on COAH’s third-round criteria, he said.
“We sent in our third round at least a year or more ago, and we never got approval back from COAH,” he said. “The commitments we made are still in limbo.”
He opined that one reason Monroe’s remaining fund balance is so high is because of the amount of open space in the township. “One of the problems that we’ve always had with COAH is that, because of the size of Monroe and the open space, they didn’t understand that 50 percent of our space is committed to remain open space. So, based on that, we were being burdened with a greater need for affordable housing than if we were built up with roadways with transportation and jobs,” Tamburro said.
“The key for affordable housing isn’t just building. It needs transportation and it needs workplaces for the people who need the housing,” he added.
Tamburro, who chairs the Monroe Township Affordable Housing Board, said that board has created a special task force to deal with current and future affordable housing projects. These include an affordable housing project for veterans on a 25- acre parcel of land received from K. Hovnanian at Monroe LLC. The developer agreed to donate the land when it converted a senior housing project into mixed-age housing last year.
“We are in the process of putting in place projects that are committed for affordable housing, but we don’t know who the overriding authority is to approve it,” Tamburro said .
The board has scheduled a meeting for May 2 to commit to a variety of projects and submit a resolution to the Township Council for approval at its May 7 meeting.
“We feel that we will have, by May 7, theAffordable Housing Board committed to spending ‘x’ dollars for affordable housing in various forms,” he said. “The question is: Who do we submit it to?”
Until Mark Resma, the township’s planning administrator, is able to deliver the costs of the proposed projects, officials will not know the impact with regard to Monroe’s $9.7 million balance, Tamburro said.
The Township Council will consider a resolution at the same meeting to request that the state leave the funds with the municipalities and extend the deadline to use them by four years, he said.
Tamburro said he disagrees with any attempt by state officials to use the affordable housing funds to balance the state budget and to take them away from affordable housing purposes. He noted that the township has always tried to abide by affordable housing requirements.
“We’ve always been committed from the beginning,” he said.
According to the DCA website, neighboring towns including East Brunswick, Jamesburg, South River, Spotswood and Milltown have no COAH funds left, while Helmetta would stand to lose $7,485.