Although its high school football team frequently struggles against Hockomock League nemesis North Attleboro, the town of Franklin regularly trounces its Bristol County rival in a much higher-stakes arena: state aid the two towns receive to help pay for public education, libraries and general government expenses.

Although Franklin's population of 29,560 exceeded North Attleboro's by only about 2,500 in the 2000 census, the Norfolk county town nailed down a hefty $29.9 million in state distributions last year, compared with only $23.4 million for North Attleboro.

Of that amount, Franklin also received 30 percent more than North Attleboro in school funds.

On a per capita basis, Franklin received a total of $1,012 in state disbursements without adjusting for assessments, according to the state Department of Revenue's figures. North Attleboro got $862.

But while Franklin might seem to have gotten a better deal from the Legislature, demographic differences offer an explanation. Franklin received about $6 million more than North Attleboro last year, but most of those extra dollars were in the form of educational aid for Franklin's growing school system. Despite the similarity in overall population, Franklin's schools serve about 1,000 more students than North Attleboro's.

Similarly, striking differences between per capita aid figures for many Bay State communities at first glance seem to portray vast inequality. But those familiar with the system say it's the numbers, not a city or town's special standing with the Legislature, that determine how much aid municipalities receive.

"It's all formulas," state Rep. John Lepper said, adding individual communities or politicians have little influence.

Much of the variation comes down to educational assistance, which amounted to $2.9 billion of the state's $4.5 billion in local aid this year, said Lepper, R-Attleboro. The two chief factors in how much educational aid a community receives are student population and community income levels, with poorer municipalities receiving a larger share.

Other factors, such as whether a community belongs to a regional school district, hosts a race track or qualifies for special reimbursements also have to do with how much aid communities receive, according to Lisa Juskiewicz, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Revenue.

If a city or town is a member of a regional school district, its school revenues go directly to the district, bypassing the town treasury.

For example, Attleboro, which has its own public school system, received $27.8 million in education aid while Rehoboth, whose students attend schools operated by the Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School District, reaped nothing. As a result, Rehoboth received only $142 per capita in local aid, while Attleboro received $858.

Special circumstances also have an impact on local state aid receipts.

Plainville, home of the Plainridge Racecourse, is the only area community that receives a share of state racing tax receipts. The town's take last year was relatively small - $287,000.

Meanwhile, Mansfield received a total of $725,040 in "additional assistance" - a category of funding that originated in a 1980s formula developed to aid communities that were having difficulty meeting the cost of some services. The additional assistance category has become a target of critics who believe it to be archaic, Lepper said. However, communities that benefit from the funding have resisted attempts at reform.

Occasionally, Lepper said, reform attempts by groups of municipalities with similar interests has an impact on local aid as a result of shifts in funding formulas. This year, for example, the Legislature placed a "floor" under local school aid distributions designed to help wealthier communities whose education aid amounted to less than 15 percent of their school budgets.

Originally, that would have imposed penalties on cities like Attleboro, which receives 50 percent or more. However, a last minute infusion of extra funds actually resulted in an increase of school dollars.

That could change in the future, Lepper said, if a decline in state revenues cuts into state educational aid.

More information about state aid to local communities can be found at www.dls.state.ma.us.