So when state officials detailed their plans last week to begin charging towns for the service, the reaction was largely anger and, in some communities, confusion.

In Mansfield, which the state wants to bill $264,000 for what it considers "full-time" police patrols, administrator Joseph Broski said the town hadn't relied on state police for two years.

"I guess the state of New Jersey still hasn't caught on that we don't use their services," Broski said.

South Harrison Police Chief Warren Mabey said his local force covered the town for all but four hours a day. The state treasury, however, listed his town as receiving full-time state police aid.

The two hope to reach out to state officials to modify or eliminate the costs their towns face.

The idea of charging for state police services has been around for years in New Jersey and Pennsylvania but it had always been shot down. New Jersey officials finally approved the step in June as part of an effort to trim state spending, but local lawmakers and mayors have bristled at paying for what they say is one of the few state services that benefits sparsely populated areas.

"Those residents pay their income tax, pay the sales tax, and on balance do not get the benefits of the state programs other more heavily populated areas get," said Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D., Gloucester).

The $12.6 million in charges that New Jersey has imposed would hit many of the smallest municipalities in the state. Only four of the 89 towns facing charges have more than 10,000 residents. By contrast, the latest proposal in Pennsylvania's General Assembly would impose a charge of $100 per resident only on towns with more than 10,000 people, helping to provide more money and more coverage in smaller municipalities, according to a state police spokeswoman.

State Sen. Phil Haines (R., Burlington) said rural leaders were left out of discussions on how to impose the charges. He argued that the new fees would trickle down to those who pay property taxes.

The fees in New Jersey are based on the number of residential parcels in each town and whether they receive full- or part-time state police coverage. The charges would be imposed on towns ranging from 39-person Walpack to 11,500-person Wantage, both in Sussex County.

New Jersey reduced the total bill from the $20.6 million first proposed and delayed the impact until January, giving towns time to plan or find alternatives to the state police, treasury spokesman Tom Bell said. He said no town would be hit with a charge equivalent to more than $100 on the average home, although mayors argue that they also face pressure on taxes because of recent cuts in state aid.

"We feel that in lowering [the bill] and putting that cap on it, we certainly heard the concerns of the towns," Bell said.

Towns such as Mansfield and South Harrison can avoid or modify their charges if they show that they don't rely on the state police. Bell said towns have until Dec. 15 to show they don't need the state police, which he said they could do through alternatives, such as sharing services.

Administration officials have put the cost of patrols in rural areas at $80 million and note that they are charging towns only a fraction of that amount. Bell said 96 percent of New Jerseyans live in towns that provide their own police protection.

In Pennsylvania, the state police provides primary police services to 66 percent of the 2,566 municipalities and covers 85 percent of the commonwealth's land area.

A state police spokeswoman said the charges in Pennsylvania would be aimed at providing more coverage in smaller towns.

"It would allow us to spread our manpower into smaller municipalities who can't afford to have their own police force and better cover highways," spokeswoman Cpl. Lynette Quinn said.

In New Jersey, South Harrison's Mabey, who spent 30 years in the state police, said state coverage was much different from having a full-time police presence. Troopers frequently respond to calls from barracks miles away, he said, and are not assigned to any specific town. South Harrison is on pace to have 88 state police responses this year and will be charged $104,767, he said.

"You're looking at $1,200 per response, which is ludicrous," Mabey said.

Several lawmakers argued that if the state is going to charge small towns for police patrols it should also charge cities that benefit from a state police presence. The Corzine administration briefly proposed adding a $1.5 million charge to such cities, including $800,000 for Camden, but quickly backed off the idea.

In testimony earlier this year, Attorney General Anne Milgram said 777 state troopers operate in rural areas, while 55 patrol Camden, Newark and Irvington.

"The attorney general determined that those towns, while they had police forces, due to high violent crime rates and other public safety concerns, they needed some help from the state police," Bell said.

Officials in the rural towns see a double standard.

"They're really trying, unfortunately, to balance the state's budget on the backs of the rural municipalities," Tabernacle Mayor Kim Brown said.

Her town faces a $246,711 charge, equal to about 8 percent of her $3.1 million budget. If the assessment is passed on to homeowners, that means an average tax increase of $112 on top of a similar tax hike necessitated by cuts in state aid earlier this year, Brown said.

Southampton Mayor Jim Young said his taxpayers, too, could pay around $100 more on average. His town's nearly $515,000 charge equals about 7 percent of the town's $7.2 million budget.

Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D., Cape May) has proposed slapping a $40 surcharge on all motor-vehicle tickets as a way to pay for the state police patrols. Half of the amount raised would cover the towns facing fees and the other half would go to towns that have their own police forces.

Mabey said there had been some talk of hiring more officers in South Harrison. Brown said Tabernacle was studying sharing police services with other towns. Southampton, too, is considering the idea.

Young is also challenging the charges before the State Council on Local Mandates.

"It's something that is mandated, and we don't have the money budgeted for it," he said.