Bill Text: NJ S881 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Delays fourth round of affordable housing obligations, including present and prospective need and related litigation, until July 1, 2028.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 4-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee [S881 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S881-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator ANTHONY M. BUCCO
District 25 (Morris and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senators Bramnick, Schepisi and Corrado
SYNOPSIS
Delays fourth round of affordable housing obligations, including present and prospective need and related litigation, until July 1, 2028.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act delaying the fourth round of affordable housing obligations and litigation until July 1, 2028.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares:
a. Municipalities have incurred significant expenses in complying with fair share affordable housing obligations, ultimately borne by the State's taxpayers;
b. Accordingly, the Supreme Court of New Jersey recognized that affordable housing is a policy matter best left to the Legislature and that the court's role in upholding the Mount Laurel doctrine could decrease as a result of legislative action;
c. Compounding the burden of litigation expenses, the COVID-19 pandemic led the Governor and Legislature to take drastic action, which shut down the New Jersey economy, causing severe past and present economic difficulties for New Jersey taxpayers and municipalities;
d. These economic difficulties have presented and continue to present severe hardship for municipalities seeking, in good faith, to satisfy their affordable housing obligations;
e. Inflation and the high demand for construction materials have compounded the factors making affordable housing construction exceedingly difficult;
f. Reliance on data from the third round of affordable housing obligations, therefore, will be even more critical in establishing present and prospective regional needs and municipal affordable housing obligations;
g. As the Legislature seeks to clarify its intent with respect to Mount Laurel obligations, the Council on Affordable Housing, and enforcement, delaying the fourth round of affordable housing obligations is critical to ensure full third round data is available, thereby providing the Legislature an opportunity to clarify the process for establishing regional need and municipal obligations with respect to affordable housing in this State; and
h. It is therefore necessary and proper to delay the fourth round of affordable housing obligations, including present and prospective need and related litigation, until July 1, 2028.
2. a. The 10-year period, known as the "Fourth Round" of affordable housing obligations, previously scheduled to begin in 2025 pursuant to section 7 of P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-307) and the Supreme Court's decision in In re N.J.A.C. 5:96 and 5:97, 221 N.J. 1 (2015), including present and prospective need and related litigation, shall not commence until July 1, 2028.
b. Nothing in this act shall be construed to impair or affect in any way any judgment or settlement of any litigation or action concerning the obligation of a municipality to provide its fair share of affordable housing that was issued or executed prior to the end of the third round of affordable housing obligations on July 1, 2025.
3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire on June 30, 2028.
STATEMENT
This bill would delay the start of the fourth round of affordable housing obligations, including present and prospective need and related litigation, set to commence in 2025, to July 1, 2028.
For decades, New Jersey municipalities have expended significant taxpayer money to comply with affordable housing obligations. The State Supreme Court has recognized affordable housing policy is best left to the Legislature. Compounding the burden of litigation expenses, the COVID-19 pandemic led the Governor and Legislature to take drastic action, which shut down the State economy, causing severe economic difficulties for municipalities. These difficulties, and others, have presented and continue to present severe hardship for municipalities seeking to satisfy their affordable housing obligations. Reliance on data from the third round, therefore, will be even more critical in establishing fourth round present and prospective regional needs and affordable housing obligations. It is therefore necessary to delay the start of the fourth round of affordable housing obligations, including present and prospective need and related litigation, to July 1, 2028.
This bill would not impair or affect any settlement or judgment concerning the obligation of a municipality that was issued or executed prior to the end of the third round of affordable housing obligations on July 1, 2025. The bill would expire on June 30, 2028.
