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Burlington County commissioners are not ruling out the use of property taxes to help finance daily operations of a 60-bed emergency shelter planned for Westampton Township.

County spokesman David Levinsky said an operating budget for the shelter, a project first announced last year, remains undetermined. County officials don't yet have bids from organizations that could manage the shelter.

Levinsky added that funding options, aside from local tax dollars, include nearly $1 million county's Homeless Trust Fund, plus unspecified state and federal sources.

“The county will develop a responsible plan for funding once a provider is selected and we can develop a more detailed estimate about the shelter operations, personnel and costs,” Levinsky told this news organization.

“What we know right now is that there is a substantial need for an emergency shelter. It’s been needed for decades and building the shelter will provide a clean, safe haven for some of our county’s most vulnerable residents.”

County officials have not announced a date to seek bids to run the shelter. The timing of a bid solicitation is pegged to progress in constructing the shelter, roughly when it's completed or nearly completed, according to Levinsky.

The project has received some opposition among residents of a Westampton neighborhood near the county's human services campus, the proposed site of the shelter. Residents have come to both county commissioner and township committee meetings to object to the placement and raise concerns about its long-term impact on their quality of life.

Public opposition has included doubts about its day-to-day funding and whether local taxpayers will pick up the costs. County officials have said they have confidence in securing grants.

A ceremonial groundbreaking for the shelter was held Oct. 30. Construction is weather dependent and has not yet started.

Levinsky said the New Jersey Division of Family Development and state Department of Community Affairs estimate that it typically costs approximately $75 a night per person for an emergency shelter placement.

“We do expect the shelter’s location next to the Burlington County Human Services Building will be beneficial since many services clients staying at the shelter might need are located next door, including the Burlington County Board of Social Services, the Burlington County Housing Hub and the Burlington County Peer Recovery Center,” he said.

State legislation signed into law in September 2009 permitted the creation of county-controlled homeless trust funds. A county also must form a task force to advise on homeless housing plans and programs.

The law allows a $3 surcharge to be collected on each document filed with a county clerk’s office.

Up to 5% of a trust fund can be used annually for administrative expenses. The rest of the money may be used only for operating a homelessness housing grant program.

Burlington County became the 12^th county in New Jersey to establish this kind of trust fund in March 2019.

Counties report their collections annually to the state Department of Community Affairs, and the latest available figures are from 2023. The department reported that Burlington County opened 2023 with $629,900.11 in its trust fund. It collected an additional $128,748 during the year.

The county ended 2023 with $771,143.54 in the trust fund, having spent $37,096.51.

In total, Levinsky said that the fund has collected approximately $1.46 million. The figure is based on more than 300,000 document filings over the last five years.

The county collected $205,600 in 2024, he said, putting its 2024 year-end balance at $987,674.

Money not expended by a trust fund after four years is turned over to the Department of Community Affairs. Other counties with trust funds are Bergen, Camden, Cumberland, Essex, Hudson, Mercer, Middlesex, Passaic, Somerset, Union and Cape May.

(This story has been updated to add new information.)

Joe Smith is a N.E. Philly native transplanted to South Jersey 36 years ago, keeping an eye now on government in South Jersey. He is a former editor and current senior staff writer for The Daily Journal in Vineland, Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, and the Burlington County Times.

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BURLINGTON TWP. — An area of South Jersey that was previously farmland will soon likely be transformed into a retail center.

The proposed center is to be dubbed Fountain Square, with portions in both Burlington and Westampton townships. Its planned location is along Route 541 near the intersection of Irick Road, across the highway from Towne Crossing shopping center, which includes The Home Depot, Kohl’s, Target, IHOP, TGI Fridays and more.

The New Jersey Turnpike Exit 5 exchange is nearby, and part of the planned center is to sit in front of a large solar panel field.

“Yes, it is located in both Burlington and Westampton but the majority of the retail is in Burlington,” said Scott Hatfield, Burlington Township engineer, in an email to the Courier-Post. “I believe that there is a proposed convenience store with gasoline in Westampton.

“The developer, Highview Commercial, LLC, has preliminary site plan approval for the Burlington (Township) portion and has submitted final site plan applications for a Panda Express and a car wash. Both are scheduled for our October (planning board) meeting. There is a total of four retail sites in Burlington Township.”

A Wawa is apparently the proposed convenience store and gas station, according to plans.

Highview Commercial LLC is a full-service real estate organization, according to its website. The Red Bank-based company specializes in net lease development throughout New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Florida, Virginia, Massachusetts and the Carolinas, and “has successfully acquired, developed and repositioned net leased retail and mixed-use properties of all types.”

Burlington Township Mayor E.L. “Pete” Green said he and his fellow officials feel optimistic about all of the redevelopment taking shape in town. He said Fountain Square is another example of that.

“Panda Express will be there and a warehouse,” he said. “When people hear warehouse, they go up in panic."

The mayor asked if people would want housing next to a solar panel field or housing far removed from the road, behind the retail portion. He said he believes a warehouse is a better option, noting that only certain things can be placed there with the way the land is zoned.

“I don’t know what else is being discussed or approved," he added. "The entire Irick Road intersection is going to be reconfigured by the county to make it more of an intersection than a jug handle.”

Green added that town is “for the most part ... jumping with activity.”

While Green doesn’t regularly stay on social media, he said that he does take a peek every now and then to see what people are saying about Burlington Township and that he’s seen quite a bit of positive regarding the new hotel that recently received municipal approvals.

The hotel is set to rise near the corner of Bromley Boulevard and Route 541.

“A lot of positive comments about the hotel,” he said. “Much like the new apartments, we don’t have any hotels. Most of the hotels are older and are in Florence or Westampton.

"When you look at the apartments that have been here for 30, 40, 50 years, they’re old-school, old-style apartments. When you look at every town surrounding us, even little Fieldsboro, they all have townhouse-style apartments. We have none. We’re going to have some now. It just so happens that all those that have been previously approved are pretty much being built at the same time.”

Burlington Township has several new apartment projects coming in, including Rancocas Pointe at Burlington, a 140-unit complex that's to rise along Rancocas Road between Sunset Road and Elbow Lane.

A Bromley Boulevard development called J Centra Burlington is to include 500 units (468 apartments and 32 townhouses) across 20 buildings on 40 acres.

The Place at Burlington, which is to be 100% affordable rental apartments, is currently being built. That project, at Salem Road and John F. Kennedy Way, is near Virtua Willingboro Hospital.

“Let’s go back to January ... the two things that were my goals for the year were communication and education,” Green said.

“People hear affordable housing, they’re thinking ... Section 8. Affordable housing is, my college graduate sons, daughters can ill-afford to buy a house, yet. The apartments are $2,500 to $4,000 a month, neither of which is affordable. Affordable means it’s reduced rent."

He added that these sorts of housing projects can help people save up for a down payment on a house years later.

“The problem is the housing prices have escalated," Green said. "We’re bound by law to provide affordable housing. Not just Burlington Township, every township. That’s part of the education for all of our residents.”

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WESTAMPTON TWP. — Burlington County officials on Wednesday afternoon are to ceremonially start construction of an approximately $21-million 60-bed emergency shelter.

The building is to be constructed on the county's human services office campus at 795 Woodlane Road. This ceremony is to start at 2:30 p.m., according to an announcement late Monday.

Area residents at a Board of Commissioners meeting a week ago verbally attacked the project and the way county officials have handled spreading the word to township residents, especially those living close to the project site.

The speaker lineup for Wednesday includes: Commissioner Director Felicia Hopson, who missed the last commissioners meeting; U.S. Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ); state Sen. Troy Singleton (D-Burlington); and the Rev. Darlene Trappier, founder and director of Beacon of Hope.

Beacon of Hope, based in Mount Holly, is a social services provider and advocate for the homeless.

Members of the township council are also under pressure from some residents to oppose the shelter. These residents said they believe the shelter will worsen an existing homelessness problem.

“I don’t think that any of us here have no compassion for anyone that’s houseless,” Devonshire Drive resident Ivonne Henrique said at the commissioners meeting last week.

“That is also in front of an early childhood center. I think that a shelter is a great idea. However, so many people think that these are just people that … are down on their luck, they lost their job. That’s not the case.”

The county last week released updated statistics on homelessness, reporting 1,005 such individuals. Nearly 10% of homeless people in the county live in Westampton, according to the county.

County officials said 63% of those surveyed were either Black, Hispanic or Latino, noting that those groups make up only about 26% of total county population.

Additionally, according to the county, 37% of the homeless counted reported at least one disability. Approximately 29% had been homeless for a year or longer, and 11% reported being victims of domestic violence.

Joe Smith is a N.E. Philly native transplanted to South Jersey 36 years ago, keeping an eye now on government in South Jersey. He is a former editor and current senior staff writer for The Daily Journal in Vineland, Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, and the Burlington County Times.

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