Page 8 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • August 29, 2012 Mahwah Township tells state: Trust fund money committed by Frank J. McMahon Mahwah Mayor William Laforet has advised Sean Thompson, acting executive director of the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing, that the township has no Affordable Housing Trust Fund money to return to the state. In July, Thompson wrote to Mahwah advising that state law requires municipalities to transfer local trust fund monies to the state’s trust fund if those monies had not been committed or expended within four years of the date of their collection. The state set a July 17 deadline. In his letter, Thompson indicated that the township has a balance of $1,260,428 in its Affordable Housing Trust Fund that had not been committed or expended, and he directed the township to transfer that balance to the state’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund no later than Aug. 13. Laforet certified in his letter to Thompson that the township’s trust fund contained $1,896,694 as of July 17, 2008, and that, after reviewing municipal trust fund records, $636,267 of the fund was spent subsequent to July 17, 2008, leaving a balance of $1,260,458 that was to be committed for expenditure as of July 17, 2012. Laforet pointed out, however, that the $1,260,428 balance has been committed for expenditure according to legally enforceable agreements that contain a firm and binding obligation to spend those trust fund monies in a manner consistent with the municipality’s fair share plan, the Fair Housing Act, and all applicable regulations. Laforet was referring to two contracts the township recently signed. One agreement allows the township to accept a donation of land from the estate of the deceased owner. That 1.5-acre site fronts on Ramapo Valley Road (Route 202) and is located at the corner of Strysko Avenue. The other contract is with the Bergen County United Way/Madeline Corporation partnership, which has provided a proposal to design and build affordable housing improvements on the site similar to the one on Franklin Turnpike in Allendale called Orchard Commons. Laforet confirmed in his letter to Thompson that none of the development fee monies collected prior to July 17, 2008 remain uncommitted for expenditure by the municipality to implement its affordable housing plan. The mayor advised, however, that as of July 17, 2012, there is $844,049 that was collected after July 17, 2008 that remains uncommitted. In 1990, the New Jersey Supreme Court determined that mandatory development fees were authorized by the state’s Fair Housing Act of 1985 and those fees must be paid by developers based on the assessed value of residential and non-residential building projects. An additional fee is collected if a change in use or increase in density in a zone is granted to a developer. The court found that the money must be used within a four-year period of collection for low- and moderate-income housing, the purchase of land for low- and moderate-income housing sites, affordable housing rehabilitation, payment of regional contribution agreements, providing assistance to make units more affordable, and administrative costs that are necessary to implement the borough’s affordable housing obligation.