The math isn’t mathing. As an affordable housing professional, I wish building affordable housing was as easy as Jim McGreevey claims. Optimism is great but Jersey City needs someone grounded in real policy solutions. Jersey City desperately needs affordable housing and we need someone to do the work to get it, not just tell us what we want to hear. The good news is that there are solutions. This isn’t it.Let’s start with the positive. In McGreevey’s article on October 3, he states that it costs about $500,000 to build an affordable housing unit. That’s correct.  Unfortunately, that’s where the real numbers stop. He claimed to build 1,000 units of affordable housing using diverted Pompidou PILOT funds, LIHTC, ASPIRE, AHTF, HOME, and distressed properties. Examined more closely, this doesn’t begin to add up.PILOTs- The Pompidou PILOT will take an expensive and protracted legal battle to undo. Put simply, it can’t be undone unless KRE breaks the agreement. If Jersey City did successfully “undo” it, that tax money would come in annually and then would be appropriated in the budget to fund affordable housing. This $150 million is not cash that we can use to fund 1,000 units of affordable housing. LIHTC- The Low Income Housing Tax Credit is a statewide funding source. It is extremely competitive and awarded by a formula closely tied to the state’s constitutional Mt. Laurel obligations. Jersey City hasn’t had an application for the valuable 9% LIHTC since 2018. Even if we did have more applications Jersey City is extremely unlikely to get more than one building each year. For the 4% LIHTC (which typically funds about 30% of rehab or mixed-income projects), Jersey City had one award in 2024. The last award before that was in 2020.ASPIRE- This is another public tax credit program where corporations get a tax break in exchange for dollars into approved projects. It is expensive, competitive, and, to date, has very little success in delivering any affordable units.AHTF- Jersey City already charges the legal maximum fee for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund which brings in $2-$4million annually. McGreevey claims we have $50- $100 million. It doesn’t exist. Those development fees were instituted by Councilman Solomon in the face of extraordinary opposition from the real estate lobby. Those fees, as of July 1, 2025, will be set to the highest limit permitted by state law (1.5% of equalized assessed value of each new project). There is no additional money to be had absent a change in state law.HOME- This money is subject to federal appropriations. In 2024, Hudson County received $2.3 million which must be spent county-wide and usually can’t be spent in Jersey City unless it is co-funding a project with Jersey City. Jersey City received $1.8 million this year. Again, these funding sources do not pay for the entirety of affordable housing units and need matching funds.Distressed units and land- While the Jersey City Redevelopment Authority has limited access to land and buildings, it is nowhere near enough and doesn’t come necessarily come for free. Jersey City is desirable and land is expensive. It is difficult for the government to compete without significant public subsidy dollars.If Jersey City received every single dollar of the above funding (however unrealistic), we could maybe fully fund 66 affordable units a year. We need more.There are solutions! The Pompidou site is located in the Journal Square 2060 Redevelopment Plan. Earlier this year, the Journal Square community helped pass the first mandatory affordable housing requirement in the city. New buildings with more than 30 units are now required to include 10% affordable housing units. Unfortunately, what passed was a limited version of our ordinance and it only covered the JSQ2060 zones right around the train station. However, had this law been in place with the KRE Pompidou site was approved, they would have been required to include 119 affordable units, without any public dollars- no PILOT, no tax credits, no taxpayer dollars. We are pressing the City Council to pass the full coverage version so that all of Journal Square can have affordable homes. This precedent-setting legislation can be replicated across the city, ensuring that as the tide of development continues in Jersey City the market is working for us. Imagine if every new building sprouting up in Jersey City brought 100 affordable homes- a dream! It is real and achievable. Look for the mayoral candidate who can actually deliver this dream.McGreevey’s claims about the Pompidou project and funding 1,000 affordable housing units through diverted PILOT funds aren’t just unrealistic—they’re deceptive. The Pompidou PILOT is locked in and can’t simply be undone, and even if it could, the funds wouldn’t directly translate into the housing McGreevey promises. His misleading numbers on LIHTC, ASPIRE, and the Affordable Housing Trust Fund show either a lack of understanding or a willingness to stretch the truth for political gain. And given his close ties to developers, including his recent fundraiser with George Gilmore—known for his patronage and contractor connections—it’s hard to trust that McGreevey would truly prioritize affordable housing over his wealthy donors. Jersey City deserves a mayor who can actually deliver, not just make promises that fall apart under scrutiny.Katie BrennanFormer Chief of Staff, NJ Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, President of NY Resilient Homes and Communities, Housing Program Director Hudson County Division of Housing and Community DevelopmentThe post Op-Ed: McGreevey’s Affordable Housing Plan Doesn’t Add Up appeared first on Jersey City Times.