By Anne Levin
Despite financial constraints on campus, Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber told Princeton Council at its Monday, March 23 meeting that the University will honor commitments made to the municipality in 2024 regarding five years of voluntary contributions.
“We have an agreement with the town where our voluntary contribution will increase year after year — four percent is the number we’ve got in there,” he said during his discussion with the governing body, an annual gathering that has taken place over the past 13 years. “We intend to adhere to that commitment.”
Budget cuts across all University departments have capped staff raises at one percent, with no raises at all this year for tenured faculty members. And endowment returns are expected to be lower in the next several years, Eisgruber said.
A report submitted to Council members details the contributions the University has made to the town since 2024. A total of $5.9 million included $5.4 million in unrestricted contributions, $300,000 to support municipal mass transit, and $200,000 for costs related to career personnel for the Princeton Fire Department. The University also made a voluntary contribution of $2.93 million to Princeton Public Schools.
The report includes a full account of the voluntary payments, and is available in the agenda packet from the meeting (princetonnj.gov).
Summing up, Eisgruber said the University regards the voluntary contribution as “an important commitment we have made, both for our partnership and our mission.” While not exactly feeling “bullish” about the future, “we go forward feeling ‘tigerish’ about our mission, our prospects for excellence, and partnership for this town. But we do so under circumstances where we have to get used to making a different set of choices over time,” he said.
Council members took turns responding to Eisgruber, starting with Councilman Leighton Newlin, who suggested that the University enter into a formal partnership with the Princeton Housing Authority to explore and advance the development of mixed income affordable housing, potentially on the Butler tract, which has stood empty for the past several years.
Eisgruber said he hopes that “at some point we are building on the Butler tract, and the University has a history of making sure we have inclusive housing when we build projects. We hope we will be able to at some point do something along the Alexander Street corridor.”
Council President Michelle Pirone Lambros thanked Eisgruber for the University’s help in launching the new Loop Express transit route running down Nassau Street and Harrison Street to the Princeton Shopping Center.
Also at the meeting, Council voted to introduce the municipal budget for 2026. Councilman Brian McDonald did the introduction, saying the No. 1 concern expressed by residents is high property taxes. The year 2026 presents “perhaps the most challenging year since consolidation,” he said. “There are a lot of very, very difficult choices.”
The budget keeps the town’s contribution to Princeton Public Library steady at $4,975,094, the amount allotted last year. Several members of the public spoke in favor of a 3 percent increase, pointing out that the library has already instituted earlier closing times in anticipation of a financial squeeze. “The library fosters a lifelong love of learning and reading,” said trustee Stephanie Oster. “The staff does everything it can, every day, to make sure not a single cent is wasted.”
A public hearing on the municipal budget will be held at the April 27 meeting of Council.