In what Plainsboro Mayor Peter Cantu calls a “blatant effort” by the state to solve its budget problems, Plainsboro has been ordered to relinquish $2.4 million in unspent affordable housing trust funds to the state. Plainsboro was one of a number of towns directed by the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) to return the unused money by May 22. The New Jersey Appellate Division issued an injunction, however, temporarily halting the state’s attempts to seize up to $164 million from various municipalities.
The court order prohibits the state from moving forward on taking the trusts until the appellate panel meets on Wednesday, June 5, in Newark.
COAH has indicated that Plainsboro must give the state $2,439,101 — the money collected from its trust fund between July 17, 2008, and March 31, 2009 — that has not been spent or committed to being spent.
However, the reason the money was not spent was because Plainsboro was still waiting for COAH approval of its affordable housing plan modifications, which had been submitted more than a year ago. Mayor Peter Cantu said they never received a response — not surprising since COAH met on May 1 for the first time in two years.
At the May 8 Township Committee meeting, Mayor Cantu said COAH’s action is particularly offensive to Plainsboro, which he described as the “poster child” for complying with affordable housing requirements.
Added Township Administrator Robert Sheehan, “Plainsboro has been in compliance with the affordable housing law since it has been on the books, and we spent over a year trying to comply with COAH regulations to spend the money. And, what’s worse, the state will be using the money to balance its budget. It won’t be used for affordable housing, so the needs of some of the neediest residents won’t be met.”
“We will exercise every option available to resist what is a blatant effort to take money to bridge the budget gap at the state level with no regard to the goal of affordable housing,” said Cantu.
Municipal officials across the state are angrily criticizing the state’s plan to seize money from their unused affordable housing trust funds. They say the money has been left untouched only because the state never provided them with the guidelines on how to commit the funds, setting up a no-win situation for towns, low-income families, and taxpayers, who could be stuck with the expense of eventually creating new affordable housing.
Several area towns have received notifications from COAH, including: Ewing, Hamilton, Hightstown, Hopewell Borough, Princeton, Pennington, and Robbinsville. By contrast, West Windsor, Hopewell Township, and Trenton had no unspent funds.
Said Sheehan, “Plainsboro hasn’t yet made a direct decision on whether or not we will be pursuing litigation, but it is fair to say we may be part of a collective action by affected municipalities. The Plainsboro Committee has made it very clear that it will be standing its ground on this issue.”
