The Franklin Town Council held a special called meeting on June 15 and unanimously approved its $11,080,577 budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
The budget is based on a property tax rate of 33 cents per $100 value, which is more than the 29 cents revenue neutral rate, but less than the 2022-23 rate of 35 cents.
Town Manager Amie Owens said that with some of the increased costs beyond their control, such as insurance, retirement and utilities, that the town could not operate effectively with the revenue neutral rate.
Council Member Mike Lewis pointed out that he voted against last year’s budget, which included a property tax increase, but said he was delighted to make the motion to approve this year’s budget which includes a tax rate decrease and compensation for town employees.
The general fund budget is $4,896,750 and does not require an appropriation from the fund balance to balance the budget. “In order to reduce the budget to the full extent possible, we have reduced the General Fund operating budget to minimal levels and staff should be commended for keeping expenditures low,” Owens said in her report to the council
Council Member Stacy Guffey said, “The best part of this budget is that we’ve re-invested our tax dollars in our greatest resource – our staff.” One of the budget increases includes $234,203 to bring employees’ salaries in line with what was suggested in a Compensation and Classification Study completed earlier this year.
There are two new positions in the budget. One is a utility maintenance technician with salary and benefits of $60,000 that would be paid out of the Water/Sewer Fund. That person would complete the required Lead and Copper inventory that must be completed by Oct 16. After that the person will become part of one of the water/sewer crews.
The second position is a part-time one in the finance office to assist with customer service and accounts payable. The cost for that position is $15,000.
The General Fund budget includes $1,733,877 for the police department. The department has requested capital outlays of $24,000 for equipment (replacement of handguns and rifles) and $50,000 for a vehicle.
Also included in the General Fund budget is $795,087 for Streets and Maintenance. That department’s budget increased by $363,446.97 from the current year and includes $75,000 for site prep and landscaping at the location for the Women’s History Trail statue being donated to the town. The town also increased the Franklin Garden Club’s allocation to $9,000 for their work on the downtown parks and other beautification projects. The department’s budget also includes $100,000 for the new skatepark ($50,000 of which will be eligible for reimbursement from a grant), a $20,000 increase in utilities and $120,000 in capital outlay improvements.
The General Fund budget also includes $350,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds for sidewalk repairs and construction that did not occur during this fiscal year. It also includes $160,000 in ARPA funds to complete the Greenway extension off Allman Drive.
Water and Sewer
The Water and Sewer Fund budget is $4,892,506 with $726,000 in capital projects including distribution and collection line replacements and improvements to the pump stations. The budget does not include any funds from the American Recovery Plan Act, but that money is available.
There will be a 3% increase in water and sewer fees as part of the 10-year improvement plan approved in 2020.
An appropriation of $838,506.03 from the water/sewer retained earnings was needed to balance the budget.
Fire Department Fund
The Town Council had delayed approving its new budget until it knew the outcome of the Macon County Board of Commissioners action on a request for an increased fire tax to purchase two new fire trucks.
The Franklin district fire tax rate for the current year is 7 cents per $100 value. The revenue neutral rate is 5.24 cents. However, the town had requested an increase in that rate to help pay for two new fire trucks. The county commissioners set the fire tax rate for each fire district in the county.
The county had not approved its budget at the time of the town’s meeting last week, and the trucks ended up not being a matter for further discussion at this point.
Owens said they decided to do a Request for Proposals on the trucks to get an updated cost estimate. Once that process is complete, the council can then vote on how to move forward. Some council members are opposed to using the town’s funds to pay for the trucks and say the trucks should be paid for from the fire tax revenue. Another option will be to use some of the town’s remaining ARPA money to help pay for the trucks. Owens said they are also continuing to look at grants and other funding possibilities. It will take about two years to get the trucks once they are ordered.
“It is becoming increasingly apparent that without assistance from an additional funding source, it may not be possible to make capital purchases of new fire trucks,” she stated in her report.
The budget for the fire department was set at $1,291,321 using the 5.24 cents fire tax rate.
The full budget can be viewed on the Town of Franklin website, franklinnc.com. The next regular meeting of the Franklin Town Council will be at 6 p.m. Monday, July 3.