“Do
you want to know who you
are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.” Thomas
Jefferson
July
29,
2019
City
Council of Jersey City
280
Grove
Street, Room 202
Jersey
City, New Jersey 07302
Dear
Council Member:
The
Liberty Board of REALTORS is concerned that the Jersey
City Council has been reacting to numerous housing issues for more than
two decades
and their policies have only exacerbated the shortage of affordable
housing for
long-time
moderate-income
residents. M
inorities are the largest group of
residents being displaced.
The
actions taken appear to be sincere,
but never fully solve the problem. In
fact,
most of the actions have increased the number of long-time residents
being
displaced. Unfortunately,
there have
been minimal actions taken to assist these residents.
The
city is undergoing a housing renaissance, which entails
the arrival of new high-income residents.
However, Jersey City does not have a
system that ensures new wealthy residents
pay their fair share of taxes through their rent payments. Many of them are occupying
rent-controlled
apartments, and by doing so, it increases the shortage of affordable
housing
for long-time
moderate-income
residents. The city
should understand their
taxing assessment ability under state law that allows an increase in
tax
receipts. These new
tax receipts can be
used to provide new subsided housing and/or a voucher program to begin
solving
the problem.
After
more than 45 years of rent control, it’s proven that it
does not solve the housing shortage.
Rather, it reduces the amount of
affordable housing in the city.
The original reasons for rent control
were to
protect tenants from unreasonable rent increases that were caused by a shortage of affordable housing. To
justify rent control today, is to ignore state statues and court
decisions during
the last 45 years that have increased tenant protections and prohibits
unconscionable rent increases.
The
laws in New Jersey now have the burden of defining what
is an unconscionable or a reasonable rent increase which rests
entirely on
the property owner. It
is now time for
the city to become innovative and provide housing for moderate-income Jersey
City residents. They
must put a halt to the displacement of those
who grew up and spent most of their lives in Jersey City.
The
Council may be interested to know why we are making
such a bold suggestion. We
understand
the pressure elected officials have when their constituents’ demand
action to
solve their problems. However,
the
recent action by the Mayor and City Council on short term rental is an
indication
they are willing to do what is best for most of their constituents
instead of
listening to only those that shout the loudest.
If
anyone would like to
discuss the shortage of affordable housing, please do not hesitate to
contact
us.
Sincerely,
Joseph
W. Hottendorf,
Executive Vice President
Cc:
The Honorable Mayor
Steven Fulop
110A
Meadowlands Parkway, Suite 103 •
Secaucus, New Jersey 07094 • 201-867-4415
|