Richard D. Wolff

I know you've reported recently on the town/gown relations of Yale and Harvard. I thought you might be interested in what's happening in Princeton, New Jersey. Property taxes in Princeton are very high, in large part because much of the property in town is owned by Princeton University which is tax exempt. About 5 years ago some neighbors of mine filed suit against Princeton University claiming that the University unfairly gets tax exemptions on properties that are, in fact, being used for commercial purposes. After years of delaying tactics by the University, the suit was settled out of court last week, just before it was set to go to trial. Princeton University has agreed to comparatively modest contributions to help middle- and low-income homeowners pay their taxes. The University will contribute $2 million this year and $1.6 million in the next five years to a fund that will help lower income homeowners. There will also be some other contributions to various areas of the town over the next few years. We are glad that we got something, but the outcome doesn't feel just, especially to those of use who have been paying property taxes here for many years. Princeton University's endowment is $22.7 billion. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-02/princeton-s-neighbors-say-to-heck-with-freebies-we-want-cash http://www.towntopics.com/wordpress/2016/10/19/university-paying-18-2-million-in-tax-settlement/