ASSEMBLY HOUSING COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 1074

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: FEBRUARY 5, 1996

      The Assembly Housing Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 1074, with committee amendments.

      As amended, this bill is designed to assist the provision of low and moderate income housing by making unused and unneeded State-owned property available for that purpose on inexpensive terms to nonprofit housing development organizations.

      The bill requires the State Treasurer to make available to the Commissioner of Community Affairs a list of all real property, including escheated property, that the State owns but does not need for any public purpose. From that list, the commissioner may select any properties that he finds suitable for the construction of low or moderate income housing; and upon the commissioner's request the State Treasurer will dedicate those properties to the Department of Community Affairs (DCA), which may thereafter proceed to arrange for their sale or lease with the Treasurer's approval to qualified nonprofit housing developers. The commissioner must consult with any State agency having regulatory jurisdiction over the property including the Department of Environmental Protection and Energy, the Pinelands Commission and the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission, to aid in the determination of which properties are suitable. The department must publish a notice of a proposed sale in a daily newspaper of general circulation in the area in which the property is located and must also hold a public hearing regarding a proposed sale. The bill authorizes DCA to arrange for the sale or lease of such properties at prices below market value, if necessary, to ensure the financial feasibility of a low or moderate income housing development proposed by a nonprofit developer. The bill contains criteria for choosing between proposals for such development, should more than one nonprofit developer seek the same property.

      The bill also encourages nonprofit housing developers who seek such properties to leverage their resources by enlisting the cooperation and financial backing of other private organizations, including for-profit developers. Their ability to do so is made an important evaluatory criterion in judging between competitive applications for the same property.

      The bill would require that the reimbursement of federal monies or funds owed to the Transportation Trust Fund or other bond funds which the State may be required to reimburse from the sale of the property be taken into account when determining the sales price of that property and that any money owed be reimbursed to that account.       The committee amended the bill to require the Commissioner to consult with appropriate State agencies having regulatory control over the property being considered, such as the Department of Environmental Protection and Energy, the Pinelands Commission and the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission.

      Assembly Bill No. 1074 was pre-filed for introduction in the 1996-1997 legislative session pending technical review. As reported by the committee, the bill contains changes required by technical review which has been performed.