Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman ROSAURA "ROSY" BAGOLIE
District 27 (Essex and Passaic)
Assemblywoman ANNETTE QUIJANO
District 20 (Union)
SYNOPSIS
Requires municipal participation in sheltering homeless individuals.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act requiring municipal participation in sheltering homeless individuals and supplementing chapter 12A of Title 40A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. For the purposes of this section:
“Municipally-operated emergency shelter for the homeless” means an emergency shelter for the homeless as that term is defined in section 2 of P.L.1985, c.48 (C.55:13C-2) that is in operation pursuant to paragraph (1) of subsection b. of this section.
b. Each municipality in the State shall either:
(1) operate, or partner with a private, nonprofit organization to operate, an emergency shelter for the homeless located within the municipality; or
(2) pay to the county in which the municipality is located an amount equal to $5 multiplied by the total population of the municipality according to the most recent federal decennial census, to be held in an account maintained by the county for the purposes of subsection b. of this section.
b. A county that receives payment from a municipality and maintains an account pursuant to paragraph (2) of subsection b. of this section shall annually distribute the monies received to each municipally-operated emergency shelter for the homeless located in the county in amounts based upon the population of homeless individuals served annually by each municipally-operated emergency shelter for the homeless as a proportion of the total population of homeless individuals served annually in the county.
c. A municipality may utilize monies collected pursuant to section 15 of P.L.1975, c.217 (C.52:27D-133) to offset costs associated with subsection b. of this section.
d. Each emergency shelter for the homeless in operation as required pursuant to paragraph (1) of subsection b. of this section, shall utilize the Homeless Management Information System administered by the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, or the Office of Homelessness Prevention if the Homeless Management Information System is transferred pursuant to paragraph (2) of subsection e. of section 1 of P.L.2019, c.73 (C.52:27D-287.5) to provide real-time information about the occupancy status of available shelter beds.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires municipalities to either operate, or partner with a private, nonprofit organization to operate, an emergency shelter for the homeless located within the municipality; or contribute monetarily to the municipally-operated shelters for the homeless located within the county.
A municipality that elects to contribute monetarily would pay to the county in which the municipality is located an amount as calculated pursuant to the bill. The county would be required to maintain an account for these payments and distribute the monies on an annual basis to municipally-operated emergency shelters for the homeless located in the county for the purpose of offsetting operating costs.
The amount owed by a municipality that does not operate, or partner with a private, nonprofit organization to operate, an emergency shelter for the homeless, would be equal to $5 multiplied by the total population of the municipality according to the most recent federal decennial census. The amounts distributed to municipally-operated emergency shelters for the homeless would be based upon the population of homeless individuals served annually by each municipally-operated emergency shelter for the homeless as a proportion of the total population of homeless individuals served annually in the county.
A municipality would be permitted to utilize monies collected from certificate of occupancy fees to offset costs associated with the requirements of the bill.
Each emergency shelter for the homeless in operation as required pursuant to the bill would be required to utilize the Homeless Management Information System to provide real-time information about the occupancy status of available shelter beds.