Borough Councilman David Goldfarb estimated that, assuming budgets hold constant for the next year, the University will pay $260,000 less in annual property taxes to the Borough and $191,000 less to the Township.
The University, however, will still be the largest taxpayer in each municipality, having paid $8.2 million in property taxes in calendar year 2009, said Kristin Appelget, director of community and regional affairs.
The changes in property taxes come after recent property reassessments by Appraisal Systems, Inc., a private firm contracted by the Borough and Township to reevaluate area properties.
Since the last property evaluation, completed in 1996, the University’s taxable property in the Borough and Township has increased by factors of about 2.0 and 1.8, respectively. This increase in the University’s taxable property was slightly lower than the average property value increase in the Borough and the Township, which were 2.2 and 1.9, respectively, Appelget said.
“Since the increase in value of taxable University property was somewhat less than the increase in value for property in the communities overall, the property taxes paid by the University on our taxable properties will be somewhat lower, at least according to these initial estimates,” Appelget explained in an e-mail.
Only property that is not used primarily for educational purposes, such as houses and apartments owned by the University, is taxable. The University also makes voluntary payments to the Borough, paying $1.2 million in 2009, Appelget said.
Some Township and Borough residents have questioned the accuracy of the reassessment, saying that it will shift the tax burden from more expensive properties to less expensive properties.
Betty Fleming, a member of the Princeton Community Democratic Organization, said that the University’s payments are not adequate.
“There are a lot of expenses that the Borough and Township have to bear: all of the traffic, all of the services,” she said, adding that “Princeton can defend its decision, but many colleges do contribute more to their communities than Princeton.”
Fleming also said that her house was appraised above its true market value. “I don’t think I can sell my house for what it is evaluated at,” she said. “My neighbor certainly couldn’t, and we have practically identical houses.”
But Brett Trout, vice president of Appraisal Systems Inc., said that each property was assessed based on sales, income and cost.
“Entry level housing has experienced a greater percentage increase than some of the high-end houses,” he said. “That’s what the market dictates.”
He added that property owners can review values with the appraisers, as 15 percent of property owners in the Borough and Township have done.
Neal Snyder, the tax assessor for the Township, said that he was very satisfied with the reassessments, which he called “very transparent.”
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