By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Mayor Liz Lempert and the leader of the Princeton Council on Monday appeared to cast doubt on the town accepting nearly $7 million from Princeton University, the town’s share of the settlement of a property tax lawsuit that a group of residents had filed against the school.
“There was nobody at the settlement table who was authorized to represent the municipality,” she said seated next to Council President Lance Liverman at her press conference earlier in the day. “As far as I know, that there was nobody there from the municipality advocating on behalf of the municipality for that agreement.”
The university two weeks ago announced it had settled a lawsuit challenging its property tax exemption, a case that was due to go on trial in New Jersey Tax Court starting Oct.17. The municipality was technically a neutral party in the litigation.
Mr. Liverman said the town and the university are in the midst of an agreement for Nassau Hall to voluntarily contribute money each year to the municipality. The final year of the deal is 2020, but per settlement terms that Nassau Hall had announced, the school will give the town $3.48 million in 2021 and $3.48 million again in 2022. Town officials, however, said they have nothing in writing or have they seen the settlement.
Asked if the town was comfortable taking that money from the university, Mayor Lempert replied, “No, there’s been no discussion.”
“How can one party agree to any number of dollars or any amount until they both get together and discuss that?” Mr. Liverman asked rhetorically.
Asked if the town would refuse the money, he replied, “I don’t know. We can’t answer any of those questions until we see, exactly, what we’re dealing with.”
“I think it’s likely to be interpreted by the municipality as a floor to discussions,” Mayor Lempert said.
The town and the university will have to negotiate the second phase of a voluntary contribution agreement down the road with Nassau Hall. “It’s never been a unilateral discussion,” Mayor Lempert said.
“Look, the university and the town of Princeton have a very, very mutual, honorable working relationship,” Mr. Liverman said. “We’re not trying to change that by any means. I’m not here to shortchange the university. The university is not here to try to shortchange the town. So once we see, exactly, the specifics of the settlement, then we can comment.”
During the litigation, Mayor Lempert, whose husband, Ken Norman, is a tenured professor at Princeton, had recused herself from closed session discussions the council had about the lawsuit. Councilwoman Heather H. Howard, who works for the university, had taken the same step.
To end the lawsuit, Nassau Hall will provide and additional $2 million starting next year, and $1. 6 million a year for the next five years to a fund that will give tax relief to homeowners in town who qualified for the state homestead rebate program.
Also, the university will give $416,700 a year, from 2017 to 2019, to the Witherspoon Jackson Development Corp, to assist low-income residents of town.
