"It’s just a plan to get more Democratic voters in our towns", whines NJ Republican about affordable housing

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As he stood with futility against a bill he believes would ravage his 39th Legislative District, Assemblyman John Rooney took little joy in noting a personal milestone.

For while 2008 marks the Bergen County Republican’s 25th anniversary as an assemblyman, it is also the low point of his legislative career.

"My towns got destroyed last night," said Rooney, a day after the majority Democrats passed a $32.9 billion budget, which includes 25% cuts in aid to all of the 28 municipalities in Rooney’s district, and eliminations of property tax rebates for residents in the $150,000 to $250,000 income range.

Monday also brought the Democrats’ successful if ignominious - by Rooney’s reckoning - passage of a bill requiring the construction of affordable housing in affluent towns.

"It’s just a plan to get more Democratic voters in our towns," complained the veteran Republican assemblyman, whose home of Northvale for years took advantage of state regional contribution agreements that enabled small municipalities like his to sell their Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) obligations to places like Newark and Jersey City.

"It’s a deliberate attempt to destroy our (suburban Republican) districts," Rooney said of the new COAH requirements.

http://www.politickernj.com/max/21063/hard...s-gop-heartache

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Commentary on these new rules from Bob Torricelli:

Previous policy allowed communities with a COAH obligation to send money to other communities with a need to build. It worked very well. Rural communities where we want to stop suburban sprawl would subsidize housing in Jersey City or Elizabeth. Affordable housing was built along mass transit corridors where services were available at more modest costs. Urban areas with sufficient affordable housing were exempt. A consequence of the exemption was that Trenton or Newark didn't impose COAH fees on developers and they achieved a comparative advantage with suburban and rural areas for new development.

All of that is about to change. Rural communities might be forced to actually construct the housing rather than transfer funds to urban areas. The first result is a conflict with the state policy of stopping sprawl. The second would be the relocation of families of modest means to rural and suburban areas where automobiles are the only means of transport. Affordable food and services will all be $4 a gallon away. New fees would be extended to urban developers in some of the state's most distressed cities. Urban developers, already plagued by aging infrastructure and limited parking, would lose their only advantage.

It gets worse. New COAH rules would be extended to nursing homes, hospitals and every new employer constructing a factory or warehouse. The world has turned upside down. The elderly in the final days of their lives will face not only mounting medical bills but absorb COAH fees to subsidize younger workers. Stagnating wages, which have created the inability of workers to afford housing, would be further impacted as new companies either avoid New Jersey or suppress wages to afford the fee.

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

enjoy joisey

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Heck imagine all those Democratic votes in rural districts known to vote Republican... you'd have Jim Crow tactics all over again!

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This doesn't sound like a good idea at all:

Under the revised rules, for every 16 jobs that a New Jersey company adds, it must pay a “growth share” for the privilege. In other words, the new rules would force companies to pay for a unit of housing for every 16 jobs they add.

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There is also a component of the new rules that forces companies to pay additional amounts to COAH if they decide to expand their facilities.

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These affordable housing rules penalize companies for providing opportunities for New Jersey workers.

http://www.njchamber.com/News/jun%2008%20coah.asp

[Sister Fracas 5]

Monday also brought the Democrats’ successful if ignominious - by Rooney’s reckoning - passage of a bill requiring the construction of affordable housing in affluent towns.

Elitist Dems in affordable housing....imagine that!

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Monday also brought the Democrats’ successful if ignominious - by Rooney’s reckoning - passage of a bill requiring the construction of affordable housing in affluent towns.

Elitist Dems in affordable housing....imagine that!

Good catch