Hundreds of Princeton homeowners will receive checks from university next week as part of property tax case court settlement

About 700 Princeton homeowners will receive checks from Princeton University next week as part of a 2016 settlement that ended litigation challenging property tax exemptions the university receives for several properties in Princeton.

As part of the agreement, Princeton University paid $2 million last year and agreed to pay $1.6 million a year this year and for the next four years to a property tax relief fund. The fund will distribute annual aid payments to Princeton homeowners who received a homestead benefit under the New Jersey Homestead Property Tax Credit Act in the most recent year for which homestead benefits were paid by the state, which was 2015. The fund established as part of the settlement agreement between the university and a group of Princeton taxpayers is being administered by the Community Foundation of New Jersey.

The 2018 payments are about $2,100 per eligible home. To be eligible to receive a payment this year, homeowners had to qualify for homestead benefits in 2015, and the homeowner must continue to own the home. Homeowners will have 90 days to deposit their checks.

The 2017 distributions established a maximum amount per eligible home for the subsequent five years of the program. The settlement provides that in each year of the program, any excess funds after all eligible distributions have been completed will be donated to 101: Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides need-based scholarships for graduates of Princeton High School who will be attending colleges and universities other than Princeton University.

Eligible homeowners will receive checks directly from the Community Foundation of New Jersey the week of October 22. Questions about the checks should be directed to Joyce Jonat at the Community Foundation of New Jersey at 1-800-659-5533, ext. 225.