An Effective and Fiscally Sound City Government Providing High Quality Service

Sub-Theme: Franklin government will seek diversification and efficiencies of revenue sources to fund its aspirations.

The City of Franklin understands that in this era of rapid change, the need for knowledgeable, active, and engaged employees is greater than ever. Building and retaining a skilled, adaptable, and diverse workforce requires the City to recruit qualified employees and provide competitive salaries and benefits along with opportunities for ongoing training and professional development in order to meet future needs. Employees will be encouraged to become adaptable, take initiative and keep their skills current through organization wide initiatives and individual development. They will also need to continue to build their ability to serve our increasingly diverse community.

There are two goals contained within this sub-theme:

Goal: Franklin will create a climate for necessary taxes and fees by assuring an equitable and balanced commercial, industrial, and residential tax base without a over‐dependence on a single dominant revenue source.

Franklin is fortunate to have a such a healthy and growing economy, and the City of Franklin is a direct beneficiary of that growth. The City funds over $218.1 million of services across 15 funds through a wide variety of taxes, fees, charges for services, licenses and other means. The largest single funding source of the largest fund (the General Fund), is the local sales tax. For FY 2024, over half (58.1%) of all resources to fund operations like fire, police, streets, parks, and general administration come from one revenue source - the local option sales tax. Given the volatile nature of the economy, this puts the City at risk for being unduly affected by economic cycles.

Baseline: To determine the optimal proportion of revenue sources necessary to balance equitable payment for growth.

Goal: Franklin will achieve the lowest cost of debt financing possible by retaining bond ratings of AAA from 2 out of 3 services (Moody’s, Fitch, and S&P).

Franklin has a long and proud tradition of fiscal discipline and conservatism. As part of that tradition, the City has sought to be the beneficiary of the lowest interest rates possible whenever it has needed to borrow money to finance important capital investments. One of the keys to receiving the lowest interest rates possible is to receive the best credit rating possible. Since 1998, the City has received a AAA rating - the best possible from two separate rating agencies - Moody's and since 2008 from Standard & Poor's. 

The City also has a Aa2 rating from Moody's for debt issued for its Water Management Fund (Revenue Bonds). This credit was originally received in 2017 as an Aa3 and upgraded in 2021 to its current Aa2. 

Baseline: As of 2012, Moody’s and Standard & Poor's have rated Franklin at AAA.