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Homes for Everyone |
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Home
”Home is where the heart is” Everyone Needs a Home Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness is committed to promoting affordable housing for all Mercer County residents, but especially for those of very low income, who have no champions other than us. Who are these citizens? Under $23,000 for total family income.
Pete is a grocery store assistant manager and lives with his wife and small son. He makes $23,000 per year. They live at Greenwood Village Apartments in Hamilton and pay 30% of their income ($575) for their rent.
Anna works as a clerk in a drug store making a minimum wage of $7.15 or $14,872 a year. She has one child and lives at Princeton Community Village paying 30% of her income ($372) in rent.
John works for the state as a truck driver making $22,000. His wife stays home with their three children. They pay 30% of their income ($550) for rent at Windsor Meadows in West Windsor. Mercer Towns Commit to the Goals Set for them by Council for Affordable Housing All of the 12 suburbs of Mercer County filed their Fair Share Plans with Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) by the deadline, December 31, 2008. Once certified (and during the process) they will be protected from builder’s remedy lawsuits that can force a town to rezone for affordable housing. Trenton is not a likely target for builders’ remedy lawsuits and did not file. By statute, affordable housing in New Jersey is set aside for households making less than 80% of the area median income. In Mercer County, that amounts to households making $60,000 or less. The top category is moderate income. Those making 50% or less of the median, about $37,500, are considered low income. And those making less than 30% of the median, under $23,000, are termed very low income. The new Fair Housing Act established that 13% of new affordable housing needs to be set aside for very low income households. COAH has decided that the 13% share applies to housing built or approved after July 17, 2008, when A-500 became law. Advocates need to know that more than one third of all the households that qualify for affordable housing in Mercer County live on less than $25,000. At least 250 very low income home will be built in Mercer County by 2018. While COAH set a growth share of 4,298 credits for Mercer County, the towns have included various problematic strategies that COAH may disallow. These strategies account for 1,396 credits – about one third of the credits COAH set for the towns. The Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness will be reaching out to developers working with these towns to set aside these very low income slots for people experiencing homelessness. We encourage you to reach out to the municipalities on this same score. What You Should Know to Advocate The Fair Share Plan is a town’s commitment to provide an opportunity for homes commensurate with the town’s fair share of the regional need for affordable housing. It is comprised of the rehabilitation share, the homes yet to be provided from prior rounds (this is round 3) and the growth share. The growth share is a target, initially set by COAH, which represents the amount of affordable housing that should be built considering the amount of residential growth and growth in new jobs from 1999 to 2018. The formula is one affordable home for every 5 new market rate homes and one affordable home for every 16 new jobs in new buildings. Advocacy If you would like to get involved with your town’s plan, please read on, or call Mary Stevens at the Alliance for more details. Mstevens@merceralliance.org |
Mercer County Municipal Plans
East Windsor is planning on 50 very low income homes.
Ewing is planning on 26 very low income homes.
Hamilton is planning 50 very low income homes.
Hightstown is planning 16 very low income homes.
Hopewell Borough is planning 1 very low income home.
Hopewell Township does not have enough information to estimate its very low income homes. Lawrence Township planning 23 very low income homes. Pennington has not specified the number of very low income homes but there are 6 special needs bedrooms at least some of which probably will be very low income. Princeton Borough is planning 24 very low income homes. Princeton Township is planning 12 very low income homes.
Robbinsville is planning 42 very low income homes. West Windsor does not mention very low income homes in its plan. Additional Resources Frequently-Asked Questions and Answers For Advocates of Affordable Housing
To get your town’s plan, go to:
Council on Affordable Housing web site |
1: one's place of residence
