24 more residents challenge Princeton U.'s tax exempt status

Princeton University Nassau Hall pic

Princeton University's Nassau Hall. (File photo)

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PRINCETON - A group of residents from the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood are taking a stand against Princeton University's tax-exempt status, claiming that when the school doesn't have to pay, it's residents who foot a bigger bill.

Twenty-four members of the historic Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood joined four Princeton residents who re-filed a lawsuit against the university over their tax-exempt status this month.

It's the latest in a long legal battle between Princeton residents and the university, since the group first filed the lawsuit in 2011.

The university holds a tax-exempt status because of their position as a non-profit institution. But that's a position some residents claim the university shouldn't have.

"In actuality, the University...distributes tens of millions of dollars of profit each year from its patent royalties to its faculty and is not entitled to claim exemption from local property taxation," the suit said. It went on to outline the different ways in which the university has made a profit and the profit they have distributed to faculty members, according to the suit.

Bruce Afran, an attorney representing the - now 28 - residents who filed the suit, said that the university's tax-exempt status means that town residents pay substantially more in taxes each year.

That is particularly difficult for residents in the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood, which has long been known as one of the, "less economically advantaged," areas of Princeton, Afran said.

Recently, people have been moving to the neighborhood and building larger houses, bringing property taxes in the entire area up, he added.

"What members of the Witherspoon-Jackson community are saying is that they've been hit with disproportionally high tax increases," Afran said.

That was at least part of the reason that so many members of the community joined as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

But it will be a long time before any decision has been made in regards to the school's status. They have filed multiple appeals and motions to dismiss the suit, all of which have been rejected by a judge.

Afran said they tentatively plan to go to trial in October or September.

Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.

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