You call this ‘affordable’ housing? Condo board wants to jack up fees to 300 percent

BRANCHBURG — Residents of affordable housing condominiums in this Somerset County township could see their association fees triple within two years if the condo board gets its way.

The change would raise the costs for the families in the affordable units by $2,248 a year.

News of the possible fee hike was first reported Wednesday by NJ Advance Media, which noted that 40 units of Cedar Brook at Branchburg Condominium Association are set aside as affordable housing as part of a 30-year charter with the township that expires in 2022.

The condo association, according to the report, says the state’s 2004 Uniform Housing Affordability Controls requires that affordable and market-rate condos get assessed equally. The regulation, however, does exempt properties with agreements predating the regulation.

The proposed fee change would double the fees for residents of the affordable units from $94 a month to $188.50 next year. The fee would rise to $281.32 in 2018. For residents of the market-rate units, the fees would fall from $317 a month.

After two years, the fees would be spread equally among all residents, but officials and residents of the affordable units say the hike is both exorbitant and unfair.

To be eligible to buy one of the affordable units, a family of two would have to earn no more than $42,000 to $67,000. A family of four could earn no more than $52,500 to $84,000.

The units pay about $1,500 to $2,500 a year in property taxes. A low-income two-bedroom unit goes for $86,872. A two-bedroom moderate-income unit goes for as much as $153,146.

Sergio Bichao is deputy digital editor at New Jersey 101.5. Send him news tips: Call 609-438-1015 or email sergio.bichao@townsquaremedia.com.