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Franklin budget talk: manager backs tax rise, proposes residential rebate amid Dominion rate hike
Summary
City manager urged raising the real‑estate rate and outlined changes to electric charges after Dominion announced increases, proposing a small biannual residential rebate instead of lowering rates; staff will bring utility-rate comparisons to the May 12 meeting.
The Franklin City manager told council April 28 that rising costs and debt pressures support a change to the real‑estate tax rate and adjustments to utility rates while proposing a rebate for residents rather than a permanent cut.
At the work session, the manager said she recommended moving the real‑estate tax “from a dollar and 3 to a dollar and 7¢” to help address debt obligations and rising costs. On electric service, she said Dominion Energy has announced increases that would affect wholesale charges and recommended creating a large‑industrial rate class, adjusting commercial basic charges, and not reducing the residential rate in the budget as proposed earlier. Instead, she suggested a small rebate model: “If we said a rebate was 500 per residential household, and then it would get, $2.50 this summer, then $2.50 in the winter,” as an example for council to consider.
Council members pressed staff for concrete numbers and legal constraints. One councilor noted the region tends to be a “forced monopoly” for utilities and asked whether the city can offer residents the choice of a different carrier. The manager responded that she would compile comparisons of Franklin’s rates with Dominion and other municipal utilities and bring the figures to the May 12 meeting.
On the city’s internal finances, the manager said electric enterprise fund transfers to the general fund have grown and are no longer sustainable at prior levels. She cited a historical transfer figure of $2,200,000 and explained that the electric fund has been used to subsidize the general fund through pilot transfers, subsidies and cost allocations. “Those funds were not sustaining being sustainable for their own operations,” she said.
The manager repeatedly emphasized the timing risk: a residential rate cut now could require a mid‑year increase if wholesale charges rise further. She asked council to consider a rebate structure instead of a rate reduction and offered to return with numeric options and a comparison tool at the May 12 meeting.
The work session did not adopt any ordinance or formal rate change; the manager’s recommendations will be incorporated into the budget process and reviewed again at future meetings.
