To the Editor:

Princeton Council’s recent adoption of a modest financial contribution agreement between the town and Princeton University missed a few things and begs the question: what’s Council’s plan next time?

The present agreement was unveiled on a Thursday and adopted the following Monday. That’s too short a period for meaningful public review or comment.

Whatever the merits of the present agreement, its seven-year term guarantees that the issue won’t be addressed again soon. A shorter term, perhaps with optional renewal, would have allowed future governing bodies more flexibility in dealing with the changing role of the University in the community.

The University’s role is changing: it’s becoming ever more dominant in the local economy. On the drawing boards or with shovel in ground, the University currently has many hundreds of millions of dollars in planned development. That development will bring substantial new demands on local infrastructure and services. But the new contribution agreement does not index the University’s contribution to that development or its consequent demands on the town.

The University’s finances are also changing. Once, PU’s income was heavily based on tuition and gifts. Today, much of its income comes from a rich load of intellectual property developed by its staff, protected by patents, trademarks, and licenses, worth billions of dollars. As one PU professor recently said, the University is a “hedge fund” operating as an educational institution. In future, it would be useful to develop a contribution agreement that is indexed to the University’s cache of intellectual property. After all, the intellectual property was developed by persons who live and/or worked in Princeton, and to whom the town provided tax free services.

Council might create a study commission to explore these and other issues in advance of the expiration of the present town/gown agreement. The commission members could come from a broad spectrum of perspectives and not be tied to the agenda of particular politicians who too often feel beholden to Nassau Hall. Such a commission might broaden and deepen the scope of review necessary to address the town/gown financial relationship in a transparent, thoughtful, and equitable way.

Roger Martindell

Patton Avenue