University to Make $525,000 PILOT Payment to Township in 2012

Princeton University and Princeton Township announced on Monday that the University will increase its voluntary financial contribution to the township from $500,000 in 2011 to $525,000 in 2012--a 5 percent increase--plus an additional $250,000 toward the township’s consolidation transition costs.

“We greatly appreciate the leadership the township has demonstrated in controlling costs while sustaining services, and we recognize the financial pressures it is facing, even as the University continues to cope with its own financial constraints,” University Vice President and Secretary Robert Durkee said. “We are proud of our association with the township, and we look forward to similarly productive discussions with the new municipality when its leadership is in place in early 2013.”

Township Mayor Chad Goerner thanked his colleagues and the Universnity. 

"It's clear that the best way to make our community better for all of our residents is to have a collaborative relationship with Princeton University,” Goerner said. “I and my colleagues have recognized this and have continued to strive for a more professional and strategic dialogue that I hope will be a legacy heeded by the consolidated municipality in 2013."  

The University’s $500,000 contribution in 2011 was its first contribution of this kind to the township, although the University has long been the largest taxpayer in the township.

More than $600,000 of its tax payment to the township for municipal purposes is associated with properties (primarily graduate student housing) that the University has elected to maintain on the tax rolls even though they qualify for exempt status under New Jersey law. The University’s total 2011 property tax payment on potentially exempt township properties was $2.4 million, which includes payments to the school board and the county as well as to the township, and its total 2011 township tax bill, including non-exempt as well as potentially exempt properties, was $4.1 million.