Jersey Towns Hit Hard by Sandy to Get Priority

The New Jersey program to help build affordable housing to replace homes lost to Superstorm Sandy is proposing new rules that would keep more of the money in towns hit hard by the storm.

The New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency has scheduled a vote on the new guidelines for May 22.

The Star-Ledger of Newark reports the guidelines would apply to a $190 million allocation for the program from the federal government.

The agency was criticized previously for awarding low- and no-interest loans to projects in communities barely touched by the storm.

Under the current criteria, projects just had to be in one of the nine counties most damaged by the storm. Under the proposed change, plans in the most affected communities would get priority.