Franklin lowers tax rate by 4 cents

FRANKLIN — The Franklin Borough Council on Tuesday approved a $6.43 million budget for 2016 that will lower the municipal tax rate by about 4 cents.
Though the actual budget figure for appropriations increased by about 1.37 percent, the amount to be raised by taxes – some $4.69 million – actually decreased by about 1 percent from last year. Taxes paid by residents will account for just under 75 percent of borough revenue in 2016.
According to borough officials, the municipal tax rate in 2016 will drop to $1.17 per $100 of assessed value from a rate of $1.21 in 2015.
Officials said the average assessed home value in the borough is $174,704, which would bring the average tax bill to a total of $2,047. That figure amounts to approximately a $64 decrease from last year, officials said.
Officials said only around a third of the tax money paid by borough residents will actually be used for municipal purposes. Approximately 15 percent of taxes will go to the county, while slightly more than 50 percent will go to both the local and regional schools, officials said.
Just less than $2.8 million of the 2016 budget will be used to pay the salaries and wages of the borough's 27 full-time and 41 part-time employees, with an additional $2.23 million allocated for “other” municipal expenses. The budget also sets aside total of $159,100 for capital improvements in the borough.
The council also approved a $2.37 million dedicated 2016 water/sewer budget, which was virtually unchanged from 2015. That budget allots $1.8 million for operating expenses and $218,148 for capital expenses.