State aid comes to Franklin after all - The borough can now cut projected tax increase in half but taxpayers will have to wait until Nov. 1 to see the adjustment.

FRANKLIN — What appeared to be a grim situation in April has turned a bit brighter, as the borough learned last week that it will get some kind of extraordinary aid from Trenton after all. Last Friday the borough learned it will receive $220,000 in extraordinary aid, all of which must be earmarked toward property tax relief. Originally, the borough had been bracing itself for the possibility of little or no extraordinary aid, which would have left Franklin taxpayers bearing nearly the entire cost of a projected 26-cent tax increase per every $100 of assessed value, or about $260 for each $100,000 of assessed property value. Now, with the additional money coming in from Trenton, taxpayers will only find a municipal tax increase of about 12 or 13 cents per every $100 of assessed value. “I did not expect to get anything,” conceded Mayor Paul Crowley, who received word of the arriving aid earlier last week. “I was hoping to get something, and we were surprised we got as much as we did. And we thanked our state assembly members (Gary Chiusano and Allison McHose) and our senator (Steve Oroho) for helping us to get this.” Last year, the borough applied for $600,000 in extraordinary aid and had to settle for only $300,000, which at the time seemed to be a disappointment. And even though the borough received a lesser amount of the same $600,000 applied for, this year the smaller amount appears bigger to some borough officials. They’d come to expect much less, if anything at all. The mayor and council had first introduced a 2008 budget in March, as required by state law, but held off on adopting it, since having done so would have “automatically” precluded any possibility of receiving further aid, borough administrator Richard R. Wolak explained. With the matter still unsettled, the borough had to send out “estimated” tax bills, based on the initial introduction. “But any aid will be used to reduce that obligation on the next tax bill,” Wolak said, referring to Nov. 1, 2008. Grant Rome, the borough’s chief financial officer, explained that Franklin had also received $794,670 in regular aid, but most or all of that had already been incorporated into the budget earlier. Borough officials are now expected to meet and further examine their final budget before its eventual approval and adoption by borough council, probably within the next week or so, they said. While the extra money cannot be used to reinstate anything previously cut from the budget, the borough still has the option of enacting further cuts, both Wolak and Rome said. At the arrival of the next quarter, taxpayers will receive their credits—just in time for the upcoming holiday season. “Once the final numbers are struck, then the adjustment will be made on the Nov. 1 taxes,” Rome added.