file photo of a golden toilet
Village Council commits funds for affordable housing ah sort off
July 13.2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
On Wednesday evening the Village Council committed $195,000 from its affordable housing trust fund to subsidize future projects by Habitat for Humanity of Bergen County. Village officials are hopeful that the resolution, passed at a special meeting will prevent the state from seizing that money and absorbing it into the New Jersey Housing Trust Fund.
Village Manager Ken Gabbert told the Ridgewood News that .”committing the funds, the village establishes a maximum amount of money to put toward an affordable housing proposal by Habitat for Humanity. The organization will be responsible for raising money and gathering donations in the event its project exceeds the $195,000.
With in such a depressed real estate market we fail to see the wisdom of much of the COAH funding . Politicians would be better off streamlining housing regulations and cutting spending to lower property taxes making housing more affordable in New Jersey . Prime real estate is always going to go for a premium and subsiding home ownership as we all have learned since 2008 has proven a well intentioned folly.
However some people for what ever reason have simply dropped through the cracks making it very hard to reenter society as productive individuals .Housing responsibilities are sensible part of the rehabilitative process. This means a case by case evaluation avoiding all the big government housing project one size fits all of the early 1970’s or the Soviet Union. Local organisations have proven to be far better and more able to identify the issues facing local displaced people.
With that said , Ridgewood is a town that spent over $400,000 on toilets aka “the golden toilet” for Vets field so it does look like Habitat for Humanity has its work cut out for it given $195,000 may barely cover a shower head in Ridgewood.
