Finance committee weighs $8M—$10M borrowing to cover roads, utilities and aging equipment
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Summary
The Franklin City finance committee reviewed a borrowing plan that would fund street reconstructions, water/sewer relays, equipment replacement and fire-station work and examined Ehlers' projections showing a levy increase peaking around 2030 under several scenarios.
The finance committee met to weigh whether Franklin should borrow between $8 million and $10 million for capital projects and equipment, and it heard detailed levy-impact scenarios showing short-term increases and longer-term tapering.
Finance director (S2) said auditors completed initial fieldwork, staff compiled roughly 92 outstanding AIE portal requests for the auditors, and then walked the committee through Ehlers' modeling of borrowing $8 million, $9 million or $10 million over 10-, 15- and 20-year terms. S2 said the models show a material increase in levy-funded debt service in the late 2020s: "If we did $8,000,000 in 2026, the levy would increase to 1,500,000," S2 said, and presented example tax impacts in today's dollars for an average $415,000 home (about $96 per year in one scenario).
The discussion centered on which projects to prioritize inside a single borrowing. S2 identified three primary projects previously flagged by engineering: the Drexel Avenue reconstruction (bids came in with the lowest around $2.2 million), Elm Road design and reconstruction (a roughly $9.4 million construction estimate in today's dollars with a potential $1.2 million grant if constructed by 2028), and water and sewer relays including the Chapel Hill relay (staff estimated roughly $700,000 for that relay). Committee members pressed staff on alternatives such as using interfund advances for TID projects and staging design now and construction later to protect grant eligibility.
Members debated scale and timing. S2 said Ehlers recommended mid-summer (June—July) as an opportune window to issue debt; she proposed returning with a recommendation at the next meeting and said she would bring a reimbursement resolution to council if the committee deferred a decision. "We can discuss and bring it back to the next meeting, finalize the amount," S2 said. Multiple members emphasized the trade-off between borrowing now at current rates and delaying projects until development increment or additional cash is available.
The committee did not take a binding vote on an amount but asked staff to gather more detail on project costs, timing, and grant conditions and to return with a recommendation.
