MANCHESTER – Late and missing checks to seniors from the state ANCHOR program was among the subjects discussed during the recent Manchester Township Coordinating Council meeting.
The Coordinating Council is made up of representatives of the township’s senior developments and often features special guests.
This meeting included 9th District lawmakers Senator Carmen Amato, Jr., Assemblyman Brian Rumpf and Assemblyman Greg Myhre who came out to the Crestwood V Village Clubhouse in Whiting.
Attendees were provided with an overview on new eligibility limits for the Senior Freeze Property Tax Reimbursement Program. Many seniors expressed that they were seriously concerned about their financial security.
“Understanding this, our delegation reassured everyone that we remain committed as a delegation to property tax relief and reducing the size of the state bureaucracy as an effective means to reduce the state’s cost-of-living burden,” the lawmakers told The Manchester Times in a joint statement.
“We also informed attendees that our delegation had recently written to the State Treasurer calling for ANCHOR benefits to be issued to taxpayers in a more expedited fashion. In our letter to State Treasurer Maher Muoio, we made the following statement: ‘This correspondence is in response to complaints our Legislative District Office continues to receive from constituents who have yet to receive their ANCHOR benefit, many of whom had the expectation of receiving the benefit months ago based on comments made by the Murphy Administration.’”
The lawmakers told those present, “we have worked with your responsive staff to assist frustrated constituents with the process. However, it is becoming increasingly evident that corrective action is necessary to rectify the sluggish and seemingly random process by which ANCHOR benefits are issued.”
Laws that oversee senior communities were also discussed. One bill in question would provide that the Homeowners Association (HOA) of an age-restricted community allow the sale of an age-restricted unit to a person who is under the age set for the community, they said.
The legislation targets 55+ communities which currently have discretion to impose age restrictions on all the community’s units instead of allowing a community only to impose age restrictions on 80% of the units.
They noted that during the previous legislative session, both a Senate and Assembly version of this specific common interest community legislation was introduced but was never advanced. However, for the current 2024-2025 legislative session, only the Assembly version has been reintroduced with a new bill number, A-2271, which has been referred to the Assembly Housing Committee.
The legislators added, “our delegation has submitted petitions with more than 4,000 signatures in opposition to this common interest community legislation for entry into the official public record of testimony in the State House. The Legislative Majority Party Leadership, which controls the Legislature’s agenda, as well as Governor (Phil) Murphy, have been informed about the petitions and, correspondingly, the intense level of opposition to the legislation that exists among residents of senior communities in our legislative district.”
The local lawmakers said they have “taken a hard line against common interest community legislation. Seniors don’t want or need state bureaucrats telling them how to run their communities. Trenton has more important things to focus on than disrupting the lives of seniors who cherish the autonomy to run their age-restricted communities the right way, not the Trenton way.
“Moving forward, our delegation is more than willing to visit any senior community in our legislative district. While each member of our Delegation has a full schedule with the State budget process about to be begin, we will make every effort to attend meetings of senior communities in our legislative district,” they added.
Attendees of the meeting were also informed of the legislative district’s committee assignments:
Senator Carmen Amato, Jr. has the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee, and the Senate Higher Education Committee. Amato was also appointed to the New Jersey Intergovernmental Relations Commission to represent New Jersey’s interests as a member of the Council of State Governments.
“It is a privilege to have the opportunity to serve on this unique commission. I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to represent New Jersey on the national stage and to develop meaningful, long-lasting partnerships with officials in neighboring states,” he said.
Assemblyman Brian Rumpf is a member of the Assembly Budget Committee, the Assembly Health Committee and the Assembly Military and Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
Assemblyman Greg Myhre who was sworn in January was assigned to the Assembly Appropriations Committee and the Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee.
“Providing the highest level of constituent services remains a top priority for our Delegation, which is why we were extremely grateful for the invitation to speak during a meeting of the Manchester Coordinating Council. The interaction with actively engaged constituents offered us the opportunity to receive invaluable feedback from constituents on issues of interest to them. Simply stated, our time is better spent in our Legislative District than in Trenton,” the lawmakers said.
