Assembly Housing Committee releases bill extending deadline to spend affordable housing trust funds

Published June 7, 2012

TRENTON - Just like this morning at the Senate Urban Affairs Committee, a packed room greeted the Assembly Housing Committee regarding legislation to extend the deadline towns have to spend their affordable housing funds.

And like the Senate committee, the Assembly committee released a bill. This bill, A2950, would do the same as the Senate bill, S2011, that was released this morning.

It would extend the deadline municipalities would have to spend their affordable housing trust fund money to July 2014.

One advocate said the programs for which the Christie Administration said the money would go toward –rental assistance and homelessness prevention-only add up to about $28 million. Yet some $160 million in unspent municipal housing trust funds would be diverted come July 1, she said.

“We need to know where the rest of the money is going. We’re from New Jersey,” said Staci Berger of the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey. “We know a con when we see one.”

“These trust funds must be spent the way they were intended .. to improve the housing market.”