Published: April 13, 2012
By Star-Ledger Guest Columnist Jodi Miciak and Diane Driscoll

The New Jersey appellate court’s recent decision reinstating the Council on Affordable Housing offers our state the opportunity to hit the reset button and get affordable housing legislation back on track.

Like many in this state, we have shared the general frustration with a system that is no longer correcting the problem it was created to fix. And that problem — a chronic lack of affordable housing — puts the future economic vitality here in peril.

There is hard work ahead to fix COAH. The United Way of Northern New Jersey Housing Alliance would like to see the bitter wrangling and legal maneuvers set aside. Instead, we hope energy will be focused on the real work of correcting the numerous flaws that inhibit municipalities from developing the affordable housing so sorely needed.

Of greatest urgency and concern today is the state’s plan to recapture some $175 million in municipal housing trust funds statewide as soon as July. In Morris County, an estimated $22 million is at risk of being lost to the state budget. Gov. Chris Christie’s administration has said some $30 million will be used statewide to assist those with special needs and the homeless.

But what is planned for the remaining $145 million? And the biggest rub: Municipalities that forfeit these funds, generated to specifically address local needs, still will be mandated to provide affordable housing, yet they’ll have fewer means at their disposal to do so.

Since state officials announced that local housing trust fund money was set to revert to the state in July 2012, municipalities have been asking for clarity around the regulations. Funds are subject to state seizure, unless already “committed.” Municipalities, affordable housing advocates and others have repeatedly asked the state to define what “committed” means. To date, the state has been silent on this crucial point. Now, while COAH is being resurrected, who will provide this guidance and clarification?

All this uncertainty has bred inaction. At the same time, the need for affordable housing has escalated. The recent “Out of Reach” report finds that an estimated 62 percent of New Jersey renters can’t afford apartments at the fair market rate. And United Way research shows that nearly one-quarter of households in the northern New Jersey region are the working poor. We call them ALICE, an acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, yet Employed.

ALICE is our child care workers, cashiers, office clerks, mechanics and others we all rely upon for essential services every day. Despite working, ALICE is not earning enough to afford the basics of housing, food, child care and transportation.

If this state hopes to be competitive in attracting companies to do business here, we need to find a way to make it affordable for these workers to live here. Even before all the legal tumult surrounding COAH these past two years, the system had strayed so far from its original mission that it actually inhibited the development of affordable housing.

For example, legislation that required 100 percent of affordable housing be “accessible” killed affordable townhouse developments. While no one contests the need for accessible units, an all-or-nothing approach hinders the overall goal of developing affordable housing for a broad spectrum of need.

The governor and Legislature now have a chance to take some positive action to improve the system. Start with the first order of business: give municipalities clear direction on what “committed” means for their housing funds.

Then, don’t let $175 million in local funds get swallowed up by the state budget. Keep the money local, in the county where it was originally earmarked, so communities can build what makes sense within their unique landscape. Let’s put this money to work to build affordable housing, create jobs, contribute to the local economy and attract new business.

Jodi Miciak and Diane Driscoll are co-chairs of the United Way of Northern New Jersey Housing Alliance.