Mr. Wolak goes to Trenton

Borough can adopt budget after receiving cap waiver FRANKLIN — It took a necessary trip to Trenton, but finally the borough can adopt its budget. After receiving a cap waiver from the state finance board last week, the borough will now be able to fully adopt its 2009 budget on or by Sept. 22 at the latest. The waiver was made necessary as the borough recorded a shortfall of about $158,000, due to declining town revenue. Because the state mandates that towns cannot exceed their tax rates by more than four percent from the previous year, Franklin had to ask the state for its approval. “But they won’t just take your word for it,” explained borough administrator Richard R. Wolak, who was accompanied by both Grant Rome, the borough’s chief financial officer, and borough auditor Kathryn Mandell to Trenton. “You have to appear and give testimony before they’ll accept your waiver.” In recent times, the borough had been aided by a revenue line from a sale of sewer allocation from several years ago. Now, with extra income sources run dry and no relief in sight, the borough would either have had to cut an additional $158,000 from the budget or seek other funding, Rome explained last week. After exploring all options available to them, the town found either alternative next to impossible, officials said. Because of $200,000 in extraordinary aid from the state, the borough was able to set its final tax rate at about 12 cents, or an extra $120 per every $100,000 of assessed value to taxpayers. Also, the borough had already cut nearly $12,000 in spending from last year when the budget was introduced in March. Had the waiver not been granted, the borough would have had to face the probability of harsh measures, which now won’t be necessary. “Our actual expenditures in the budget had decreased, but we also had major decreases in revenue,” Rome said. “So we didn’t have much to balance the budget with.” Having already been warned that next year’s prospects may be slim, the borough will soon have to begin preparations for next year’s budget on or about Nov. 1, leaving very little time from the completion of one tab to the start of another. Officials are displeased with the increasing length of time necessary to make a final adoption, making this year’s budget process one of the most arduous in recent history. “We were close last year, but it wasn’t this late,” Rome said. “It just gets later and later because the state keeps dragging its feet every year.”