Trenton Housing Bureaucrats Knew That Families Would Pay Thousands in New Fees to Rebuild Burned-Out Homes

Senator Steve Oroho (R-24) said this after learning that housing officials in Trenton knew, before the law was passed, that families who own homes destroyed by fire or other natural disasters would be required to pay new fees to finance low-income housing construction:

"Apparently, the Department of Community Affairs was well aware of the problems this new fee and quota systems would cause for victims of disasters. And they didn't speak up to prevent these fees from being opposed. This is the kind of decision-making that gives Trenton bureaucrats a reputation for being totally insensitive to the needs and sensibilities of average taxpayers. It's only common sense. Traumatized victims of fires should not be considered fair game for a new revenue raising scheme."

A spokesman for the Department of Community Affairs said that the DCA "did not anticipate a municipality interpreting the regulations in the manner in which Franklin Borough did, therefore creating an unintended consequence." However, this statement is contradictory to what was written in the comment and response portion of the published adoption of the rules at 40 N.J.R. 2733:

COMMENT: Why do the proposed rules not allow for the subtraction of demolitions from projected or actual growth?

RESPONSE: The methodology employed by the Council to establish Statewide affordable housing need recognized that replacement units are a significant factor in determining overall housing demand. Replacement units reflect the net removal of existing homes, through intentional demolition as well as due to disasters such as storms or fires. This component is the number of housing units required to replace units lost, over and above the new units required to accommodate household growth. Statewide, 67, 601 replacement units were factored in to the methodology and allocated at a regional level for the period 2004 through 2018. Therefore demolitions have been factored in to the Council's growth projections...."

Oroho, who intensely researched the COAH rules because a constituent family faces thousands of dollars in fees before they can rebuild a burned out home, said DCA officials first maintained that communities could waive the fees for victims of disaster. However, they later said that the communities would be assessed the fees anyway if disaster victims weren't required to pay them. Oroho said he will continue to fight to overturn state mandates that pressure communities to impose fees on families that have lost their homes and possessions in disasters.

"It is very unfortunate that a family had to loose their home for this blatant error in policy to be revealed, " Oroho concluded. "Adverse events like this happen everyday across New Jersey and we need to ensure that this policy is overturned and never re-imposed. I appreciate the cooperation and assistance I have received from Commissioner Joseph Doria after this issue was brought to his attention and am hopeful that the necessary steps to correct this regulation will be taken to help the Ferraro family and all other families who lose their home as a result of a fire or natural disaster."