Monday, July 9, 2012
Housing advocate and municipalities try to prevent the state from taking their funds.
The battle between the Christie administration and the Fair Share Housing Center rages on. The two sides are going to court Friday over as much as $200 million in local affordable housing trust funds. So far, the Appellate Division of Superior Court has been kind to the Cherry Hill-based housing advocates, but this case could be a different story. To help balance the budget, Gov. Chris Christie recommended the state use the trust fund money. The administration appears to be within its legal right to do so, as the law creating the funds — and the developer fees that municipalities levy to subsidize them — specified municipalities had to “commit to spend” the money within four years. The clock strikes midnight on July 17. But as always, …
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Council on Affordable Housing earns reprieve as Supreme Court upholds appellate ruling protecting the state agency.
Gov. Chris Christie still cannot make the state Council on Affordable Housing disappear, now that the New Jersey Supreme Court refused to stay an appellate court ruling that barred his action. The June 12 ruling is not the last word on the case, since the high court only rejected the stay, not the governor's appeal. But it reaffirms that, at least for now, the council has exclusive jurisdiction over affordable housing regulations in the executive branch. In March, the appellate court found that Christie "exceeded his authority" under the state constitution by attempting to eliminate an agency created by the Legislature. Three months later, though, the council's former link on the state website still redirects to a page announcing "the …
Friday, March 9, 2012
Court rules that the governor lacks authority to reorganize an independent agency, saying future of Council on Affordable Housing is up to state Legislature.
A state appeals panel has overturned Gov. Chris Christie's reorganization of New Jersey's affordable housing bureaucracy, saying the governor lacked authority to abolish an independent agency. Christie issued an executive order in June 2011 that eliminated the state Council on Affordable Housing and transferred its responsibilities to the state Department of Community Affairs. Christie says he will appeal the decision. "We are obviously disappointed with the court decision, which only perpetuates the nightmare New Jersey has endured for decades with the COAH bureaucracy," said Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak. In its ruling, written by Judge Philip S. Charchman, the appellate panel said that the state Reorganization Act "does not grant …
Marlboro Mann
11:30 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Just got to love the die hard liberals on the state Supreme Court. Instead of interpreting the laws, they are engaging in social engineering forcing towns to receive low income housing designed to lower property values, strain services, and boost taxes. Glad to know that I worked my tail off to live in Marlboro so that others can get a free ride. Welcome to NJ-"The Cesspool State" more ›