Franklin County adopts 2026 budget; total assessment set at $11.31 million

The Franklin County Commissioners voted to adopt the county's 2026 budget and set the total assessment at $11,313,348 after a special meeting to consider amendments and departmental budgets.

The board approved the general fund assessment of $7,936,930 and a jail fund assessment of $3,346,418, plus an overlay of $30,000. Staff told the commissioners those totals reflect recent property valuation increases; while several budget lines rose by about 10% from last year, the mill rate is estimated to increase by roughly 1% because overall valuations increased significantly.

Chair (chair) called the meeting to order at 3 p.m. and opened with a brief overview of process rules and statutory thresholds. Sue Pratt outlined Title 30 procedures and staff summarized budget headlines: overall expenditure budgets up about 10.6%, revenue budgets up about 10.9%, and the jail fund assessment up about 11.7.

The board processed a series of department-by-department motions: emergency management, district attorney, superior court, treasurer, technical services, sheriff, communications and countywide items were each moved, seconded and approved by voice vote. Staff (Mark) provided line-item calculations when commissioners requested payroll tax or retirement impacts following several proposed adjustments.

After the board approved several departmental budgets, commissioners voted on the amended overall budget. The chair called the roll by voice; the record in the transcript shows motions made, seconded and carried by voice vote but does not list a roll-call tally in the public record.

The meeting concluded with staff's summary showing the adopted amendments left the commissioners' budget $9,000 lower than the budget committee's original submission, while producing the stated assessment totals. Staff emphasized that while the mill rate change is modest, many property owners will see higher bills because of rising property valuations.