Franklin County adopts 2024-25 budget with employee raises, no property tax increase

Franklin County Mayor Chris Gass said the county has ratified and passed its 2024-25 budget, including cost-of-living raises for county employees and funding for facility improvements, and that officials completed the process without increasing property taxes.

The budget, Gass said, provides pay adjustments for county staff and sets aside money for upgrades to county facilities. "We were able to ratify and pass our county budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year where we had the ability to give county employees a raise, cost of living, and put some money in some places for some upgrades to facilities," Gass said. He added the budget was approved "without a tax increase at the property taxpayer of Franklin County."

Gass credited the result to what he called sound fiscal management by elected officials and department heads. He said the budget outcome "shows good fiscal management" and said officials will continue to try to limit the burden on property taxpayers when circumstances permit.

Details such as the total budget amount, the specific raise amounts or the vote tally were not provided in the mayor's remarks. The mayor framed the budget as enabling operational improvements while avoiding additional property tax burden.

The county indicated the budget will support staff pay and targeted facility upgrades; implementation details and effective dates were not specified in the update.