55:14K-17. Annual appropriations to boarding house rental assistance fund

a. To assure that there exists sufficient money in the Boarding House Rental Assistance Fund so as to permit the fund to be fully employed in furtherance of its purposes and to enable the Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs to fulfill his commitments under rental assistance agreements, there shall be appropriated in each fiscal year and paid to the Department of Community Affairs for deposit in the Boarding House Rental Assistance Fund (1) from the Casino Revenue Fund, the amount of money requested for that fiscal year by the commissioner in the applicable Boarding House Rental Assistance Fund Annual Report, as amended by the commissioner from time to time, for the benefit of boarding house residents who are either senior citizens or disabled residents of the State within the meaning of regulations promulgated by the commissioner; and (2) from the General Fund of the State of New Jersey, the amount of money requested for that fiscal year by the commissioner in the applicable Boarding House Assistance Fund Annual Report, as amended by the commissioner from time to time, for the benefit of boarding house residents who are neither senior citizens nor disabled residents of the State within the meaning of regulations promulgated by the commissioner, either as rental assistance payments or direct debt service on loans.

b. After receipt of each Boarding House Rental Assistance Fund Annual Report, the State Treasurer shall determine whether or not during the preceding fiscal year rental assistance payments were made with funds appropriated from the Casino Revenue Fund to or on behalf of residents of boarding houses who, were they families as defined in subsection f. of section 3 of this act, would have constituted families qualified for admission to housing projects under section 8 of this act during such fiscal year, but who were not either senior citizens or disabled residents of the State within the meaning of regulations promulgated by the commissioner. Upon making a determination that funds were appropriated from the Casino Revenue Fund to or on behalf of one or more of such residents, the Treasurer shall request and the State shall appropriate from the General Fund to the Casino Revenue Fund an amount of money equal to payments so made from funds appropriated from the Casino Revenue Fund; but neither the request nor the appropriation shall be required if, or to the extent that, the amount of payments is reimbursed from any other available source, which may be, but shall not be limited to, a payment from unencumbered funds of the agency, as authorized by the agency.

c. If the Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs is for any reason unable to make rental assistance payments on one or more rental assistance agreements, the agency may, but shall be under no obligation to, authorize payments from its unencumbered reserves. If no such authorization is made, or if the agency's payment is only intended to be a temporary source of funding in order to satisfy payments due on bonds issued to finance life safety improvement loans, or the amount authorized is insufficient to make full payments under the agreements, there shall be appropriated from the General Fund in each fiscal year and paid to the Department of Community Affairs, for disbursement to the agency, sufficient funds to make full payments. The commissioner shall annually report to the Governor and the Treasurer detailing the need for the appropriations.

L.1983, c. 530, s. 17, eff. Jan. 17, 1984.