Bridgewater, NJ is going to have to increase taxes due to the need to expand affordable housing based on state requirements. Here is a quote from a Star Ledger article that outlines the situation.
The rules require that for every four market-rate housing units, a town must provide one housing unit that is for low- or moderate-income individuals. Using a calculation that combines projected growth rates and other factors, Bridgewater owes about 1,000 more units in affordable housing under the rules, said officials in the sprawling township.
And guess who is going to pay for the new housing? The residents of Bridgewater! And not just the wealthy ones, those who currently live in affordable housing will also be footing the bill. This is not the only issue with what is happening in Bridgewater... the other is how the state can tell a municipality to what standards their housing market must conform. The municipality and the state have no right to dictate the make up of the housing market, especially when it forces a more local level of government to expend exorbitant amounts of money. We have a free market economy, or we are supposed to have one, and we are quickly chipping away at it with good willed intentions and open pockets. But what is going to happen in the end is they will find out that the market can't support the monster that Dr. Frankens... I mean the government has created and that either the government will have to subsidize it forever or they will have to let it wither and die. There is no learning curve when it comes to public policy.
Click here for the news story referenced above.