(Mark Your Calendars: RealShare New Jersey 2011, September 13 in New Brunswick. RealShare New York takes place Oct. 12 at the Marriott Marquis.)
NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ-The long-awaited moratorium on the 2.5% Council on Affordable Housing fee, signed by Governor Chris Christie yesterday, is “a nice step and a victory for all sides,” NAIOP NJ president George Sowa tells GlobeSt.com.
Earlier this year, NAIOP NJ identified over 30 pending projects across the state that would be helped by the legislation (S-2974 Lesniak/ Sweeney, A-4221 Coutinho/Bucco/Burzichelli) that places a two-year moratorium on the fee for eligible projects beginning July 2011 and ending July 2013. The moratorium also has been restored retroactively to July 2010. The bill with bipartisan support passed the Senate 34-0 and the Assembly 78-0.
The move, at least for the time being, removes what NAIOP has called a “job-killing” tax that evolved over the years.“First it was 1%, then 2%, then a 2.5% fee,” Sowa recalls. “Every year it seemed to go up incrementally, and it became that much more expensive.”
Previous administrations had upheld a moratorium. In February 2010, Christie signed an executive order freezing the actions of the council and appointing a task force to examine its feasibility. A comprehensive reform bill is still being worked on.
“It was just incumbent to get the moratorium done to create jobs,” Sowa says. “We really support affordable housing. But it should not be coming from the equivalent of a jobs tax.”
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