By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Princeton municipal officials on Friday sought to distance themselves from an agreement ending a tax lawsuit against Princeton University, a deal that contains financial benefits for the municipality.
Nassau Hall three weeks ago settled a legal challenge that a group of Princeton residents had brought against the university’s property tax exemption, with terms of the settlement including the university paying nearly $7 million to the municipality spread in equal amounts of $3.48 million in 2021 and 2022. The university also agreed not to seek a property tax exemption, from 2017 through 2022, for several of its properties that are on the tax rolls.
Town officials, however, have said they never were part of negotiations with Nassau Hall and the plaintiffs, in a lawsuit that the town was neutral in. Officials’ statements have put into doubt whether the town would accept the money.
“The municipality of Princeton was not given the opportunity to be a party to the negotiations or settlement,” the town said in a statement Friday. “Consequently, the terms of their agreement are unenforceable against the municipality.”
The agreement, a copy of which the Princeton Packet obtained this week, indicates Nassau Hall would cancel the payments in 2021 and 2022 if the town or anyone else challenges the property exemption of any its properties that are on the exempt list for this year. Any such legal challenge also would free the university from its pledge about not seeking an exemption for the properties, including graduate student housing, among others.
For its part, Nassau Hall issued a statement that sought to tamp down any controversy.
“The municipality chose to remain neutral in the litigation and thus was not a party to the settlement agreement. But as I have said to the municipal officials, the University was attentive throughout the discussions to the commitments we have made to the municipality, and those commitments are affirmed – and in one respect enhanced – in the agreement,” said university vice president and secretary Robert K. Durkee by email Friday.
“We described for the municipality the terms of the agreement that relate to the municipality,” he continued, “but there is nothing in the agreement that binds the municipality and there are no terms that raise any questions of enforceability regarding the municipality.”
“One of the reasons the town was not brought into negotiations is because they took a position of neutrality,” said Bruce I. Afran, lawyer for the residents who sued, in a phone interview. “They weren’t supporting the taxpayers, nor were they supporting the university. There wasn’t any role for the town in the negotiations.”
He said the municipality’s special counsel on the case, Martin Allen, had been kept apprised of the settlement negotiations, with the town “never expressing” any objections.
The statement by the municipality came after the Princeton Council met in closed session Thursday morning to discuss the case along with its special outside lawyer, Martin Allen. It also comes after Mayor Liz Lempert and the head of the Princeton Council recently sought to distance the town from the agreement.
“There was nobody at the settlement table who was authorized to represent the municipality,” Mayor Liz Lempert told reporters last week, while Council President Lance Liverman also last week said he did not know if the town would refuse the money that Nassau Hall has pledged to give.
“How can one party agree to any number of dollars or any amount until they both get together and discuss that?” he said.
Asked if the town was comfortable taking that money from the university, Mayor Lempert replied, “No, there’s been no discussion.”
