The tentative 2019 budget for the Town of Franklin spends $1.76 million. To partially finance this, the town board plans to raise $1.19 million in property taxes from landowners, an increase of $ 0.03 million (2.4%) over the 2018 budget. This levy is just under the state-imposed soft cap and similar to the increase in […]
In 2010, the Franklin Town Board stopped their annual internal auditing of the town books and stopped releasing an accounting, both required under NY Town Law. In addition, they did not file an Annual Update Document of this accounting with the Office of the State Comptroller, required under NY Municipal Law. In 2014, after the […]
By Brian Brock For many years now, the Town of Franklin has annually violated New York Town Law by the board not auditing the town books (Section 62) and by the supervisor not releasing the end-of-year accounting (Section 29(10)). How could their malfeasance bring trouble down on our town? Possibilities include ineligibility for state assistance […]
By Brian Brock After having read in the spring issue of this newspaper about the 2014 audit of the Town of Franklin financial operations by the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC), you might have wondered how it could be the first time that you learned of this critique. Arguably, this is because the town […]
By Brian Brock Would you like to know how the town board spent your property taxes last year? You should be able to. Under New York Town Law, each town is required to file an annual financial report. This Annual Update Document (AUD) should be available from the Town Clerk, Dawn Ritz, or the Office […]