RUMANA: CORZINE SHOULD SUSPEND AFFORDABLE HOUSING REQUIREMENTS FOR LACK OF FUNDING

Assemblyman Scott Rumana today questioned why Governor Jon Corzine will not put a halt to the state’s new affordable housing requirements three weeks after the Office of Legislative Services (OLS) concluded that the program will have an annual funding shortfall of more than $2 billion.

“The OLS analysis, giving the most favorable consideration to possible funding sources from the DCA’s funding guide, concluded the state is still going to be short $2 billion in funding each year for these affordable housing requirements,” said Rumana, R-Passaic, Bergen and Essex. “Clearly the Governor has had enough time to review this analysis and contemplate the negative impact on our communities yet he has yet to suspend the implementation of this program.”

In November, OLS researchers examined the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) funding guide which lists approximately $849 million in funding that the department claims could be available for producing the affordable housing units required under the new Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) rules.

The research concluded that even if all of those dollars are available, which they may not be, the new affordable housing requirements (estimated at $2.85 billion annually) could still require an additional $2 billion in funding.

“Once again the Corzine administration has created a new public funding mandate without the resources to cover the mandate,” said Rumana. “The governor has four weeks to correct this mistake and to support legislators who are seeking to put a halt to the implementation of this program. Unless he can explain where the funding for these new housing obligations will come from, I would suggest that he join the effort to delay the start of this program.”

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