July 7, 2026 - Budget Workshop 6: Council Line movements

Workshop
This is a Council meeting to discuss the overall city budget and specific line movements.
Author

Sam Jacobson

Published

July 5, 2026

Modified

July 5, 2026

Location: Franklin Public Library

Date: July 7, 2026

Time: 6:00 PM

Agenda:

Packet/Manager’s Proposed Budget

School Board Proposed Budget

This is the sixth meeting of the budget review process in the City. This will be a workshop meeting.

Below are my preliminary thoughts and initial positions going into the meeting. Please email me at if you would like to discuss further. Please note I will be attending via phone due to a prior work commitment.

Check out the Budget hub for department specific run-downs.

Agenda Items

1. Budget Discussion

Throughout the month of June, the City Council reviewed the City Manager’s proposed budget line-by-line. This is a chance for the City Council to see where the City Manager wants to spend money.

I plan to update this more as the day arrives, but I’d like to see the following changes to specific lines in the budget

  • Fund the school board approved budget (Cost $2.25M) using a combination of money moved within the budget (see below) and direct funding based on state and federal mandated programs
    • Approximate additional tax need ($1.8M)
    • Approximate moves within the budget ($400k)
  • Close two open positions at the police department (saves ~$270k) (01-2-103-40110-000)
    • These positions have not been filled, nor do I think the department has enough qualified candidates to fill these positions
    • Two patrol positions would remain open to alleviate staffing/overtime issues.
    • The department currently has 5 sergeants, and 4 patrol officers. This feels lopsided to me.
  • Reduce city manager’s contingency line from 100k to 60k ($40k ) (01-1-302-40898-000)
    • The city manager has access to the fund balance and council approval if needed to address incidental costs
    • FY26 (last year) 30k budgeted, and at least 80k spent.
  • Reduce ‘New account/Contracted service’ from $143,240 to $93,240 (saves 50k)
    • This money is to support contracted HR services which should be less than the council approved last year (65k) and adds payroll services.
    • This is a contracted service so cost control should be straightforward.
    • I’d like to see the city try this service out without committing this many resources to it.
  • Reduce general legal (01-1-531-40320-000) from $115,000 to $75,000 (save 40k)
    • FY 26 legal services operated without a retainer, which drives up cost.
    • FY 27 I’d like to see a retainer agreement which should reduce costs
    • The City’s transparency initiatives should reduce the city’s need for legal advice.