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Franklin Lakes,
what owning costs.

The school district and how placement works, how people actually get to work, and the published property-tax figures for the municipality — each with its source and the date it was checked.
Download the Franklin Lakes guidePrint-ready, with every source and the date it was checkedPDFFranklin Lakes town pageThe wider area this municipality sits inTown page

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No I

Franklin Lakes at a glance

The short answers, each with its source below.
  • Schools. Franklin Lakes Public Schools, with a regional high school district.
  • Getting to work. Commuter lot, bus, and nearby stations.
  • Tax rate. 1.400 per $100 of true value, on the 2025 certified table — the figure that compares this town with the one next door.

This edition does not include a closed-sale market analysis for this municipality. Everything below is sourced and dated.

No II

Schools, and how placement works

District structure, as the district itself publishes it.

Franklin Lakes Public Schools, with a regional high school district.

Colonial Road, High Mountain Road and Woodside Avenue schools for K–5; Franklin Avenue Middle School for 6–8; and the Ramapo Indian Hills regional high school district for 9–12.

Confirm the address with the district

The regional district covers two high school campuses, Ramapo and Indian Hills. Confirm current assignment or choice with Ramapo Indian Hills directly rather than assuming either campus.

A listing sheet, a map or a previous owner’s experience is not confirmation. The district’s registration office is.

No III

Getting to work

Commuter lot, bus, and nearby stations.

The borough's own transportation page describes the Parsons Pond Road commuter lot and its permit, weekday NJ Transit route 752, Coach USA service to the Port Authority, and nearby train stations including Ridgewood and Allendale. The municipal page carries no operator timetable, so check frequency, journey time and parking availability with the operators themselves, and budget the drive to the lot or station and the onward trip at the far end separately.

What to check for your own address

Journey times here are the operator’s published schedule, not a door-to-door figure — the walk or drive at each end is yours to add, and it is usually what decides whether a commute is liveable. Check the schedule for the day you would actually travel, and the parking rules at whichever lot or station you would use.

Apply this to your own address

No IV

What owning costs, and what to look at

State-certified figures, each with its own certification year.
MeasureFigureCertification
General tax rate, per $100 of assessed value1.9042025 certified
Effective tax rate, per $100 of true value1.4002025 certified
Director’s average ratio of assessed to true value66.17%2026 table
Chapter 123 common level range56.24% – 76.10%2027 certification
Average residential assessment$1,093,8632026 table
What these figures do and do not tell you

The effective rate is the one that compares Franklin Lakes with the town next door, because it is stated against true value rather than against whatever fraction of it a town assesses at. The general rate is applied to an assessment, so two towns with very different general rates can cost about the same to own. Neither rate computes any individual bill.

For a specific house, the figures that matter are its own: the current assessment on the municipal record, the actual bill, and any revaluation, reassessment or added assessment the town has confirmed. Those are the numbers to read before you price or offer — not a town-wide average.

A sale does not by itself trigger a reassessment. Bills change through municipal revaluations and reassessments, added assessments for qualifying improvements, rate changes, appeals, exemptions and deductions. Nothing here projects a future bill or its timing; treat any forward number as a planning scenario.

Thinking about an appeal? It turns on the applicable assessment date and on rules that differ in a revaluation year, so it is worth proper advice rather than a rule of thumb. Official guidance: NJ Division of Taxation — property tax appeals. NJ Division of Taxation — how a tax appeal hearing works (PDF).

Sewer, septic and water

The borough explains that septic systems are long established here and that sewer service covers limited areas. For any specific property, confirm whether it is on sewer or septic and on public water or a well, and get the inspection records, permits and maintenance history. The borough's site links its sanitary engineer and its septic and well-testing resources.

No V

Apply it to your move

Three things are worth doing before you commit to a price here.

  • Read the property’s own tax record. The current assessment and the actual bill are public, and they matter far more than any town-wide rate. Ask whether the town has confirmed a revaluation, a reassessment or an added assessment.
  • Confirm the school with the district. For the specific address, in writing, before it affects what you are willing to pay.
  • Price against closed comparables. This edition carries no market analysis for the town, but the closed sales for a specific street and house type exist, and we can pull them for the house you are looking at.

That last one is what a conversation with us is for. Everything above is town-level and public; the decision in front of you is about one address.

The numbers call · Fifteen minutes

Considering Franklin Lakes? Tell us the decision.

We will bring the numbers — which band your budget lands in, what it bought this year, the tax bill on the specific house, and the commute from that driveway. No pressure, just a clear answer.

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hello@thedesilvateam.com · 973-542-9302
The DeSilva Team · eXp Realty
28 Valley Rd Ste 1, Montclair, NJ 07042

Start with the question you actually have

Sources.

School information is district structure as the district publishes it; placement for a specific address is the district’s to confirm. Figures are not an appraisal. © 2026 The DeSilva Team · eXp Realty, LLC. Each office independently owned and operated.