The Franklin City Council and the public learned the details Monday, May 11, of the fiscal year 2026-27 city manager’s proposed operating and Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) budget, which featured no increases to real and personal property tax rates.
David Freeman
Franklin City Manager David Freeman said, “The city manager’s duty is to provide City Council with a balanced-budget framework with the best information available at the moment.
“Before jumping straight into the budget, I wanted to provide you with some context around our budget backdrop,” he continued. “The budgetary framework includes aligning the revenue picture with the many budgetary expenditure needs and wants. Needs and wants pertain to both internal team members as well as our external partners.
“Additionally, there are many challenges to consider, such as state and federal pressures and challenges that adversely affect the city’s operating picture,” he said.
He noted that some of those pressures and challenges have to do with providing the necessary funding support and/or timely budgetary picture for budgetary planning purposes.
“Some of the obvious challenges are around the political climate of uncertainty at this moment at the national and international levels, chiefly among them are around energy markets, and this is on top of the general inflationary increases that we must consider,” he said. “Impacts are being felt on governmental services around the country that depend directly and indirectly on energy markets.
“Simply put, costs are substantially higher now than just only a few months ago, and there seems to be no guarantees of certainty or stability on the horizon,” he added.
Franklin Director of Finance Jeff Deline then proceeded with the FY27 draft budget presentation.
Following are excerpts from that presentation.
“For FY27, all of our funds together are $91.42 million, and the General Fund itself is $36.65 million,” he said. “And all 12 budgeted funds are balanced with revenues equalling expenditures.”
His slideshow presentation noted that the adopted General Fund total for FY26 was $35.41 million. The proposed General Fund total for FY27 of $36.65 million represents a $1.23 million increase, or 3.5%, “which I think is very modest,” Deline said.
STRENGTHENING OUR FOUNDATION
In his presentation, Deline highlighted the emphasis of strengthening Franklin’s foundation:
• Structurally balanced General Fund — recurring revenue covers recurring expense
“That means that the recurring revenue is currently going to be covering the recurring expenses,” he said.
• Real estate tax rate is held at $1.03 per $100 of assessed value against a confirmed 10% assessment lift
“In other words, we had an increase in the total values of assessed property by 10%,” he said.
• Targeted investments in public safety, facility renewal and comprehensive planning
Under the subheading “No unassigned fund balance (UFB) draw,” Deline noted that the proposed FY27 General Fund is balanced at $36,646,767 without drawing on unassigned reserves.
“Reserves remain above the 15% policy minimum, which means that we’ll have greater than 55 days of spending authority in our reserves,” he said.
Deline then introduced a slide in his presentation that elaborated on what “Strengthening our Foundation” means:
Five Foundation Priorities
• Workforce — 3% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) citywide; targeted full-time equivalent position additions (E-911 Land Mobile Radio technician, 0.50 human resources recruiter);
• Facilities & deferred maintenance — $1.87 million for roofs, HVAC, LED lighting, painting/carpet;
• Public safety apparatus — $4.4 million communications radio system; $475,000 Medic 1 ambulance;
• Long-range planning — $50,000 Comprehensive Plan update; electric utility health; and
• Fiscal discipline — structurally balanced; no UFB draw; contingency at $219,894.
How it Builds on FY 2026
• Builds on FY 2026 “Recalibrate” work — from recalibration to reinforcement;
• Protects the building portfolio against further deferred maintenance backlog;