Franklin Township Council 2025 Budget Hearing - March 18, 2025

The Franklin Township Council held a budget hearing for the 2025 fiscal year on March 18, 2025, at 7:00 PM via Zoom. The meeting covered presentations from various departments, including the Tax Collector, Police, Open Space, Public Works, Water Utility, and other municipal functions. Council members discussed proposed budgets, asked questions, and made preliminary decisions on capital projects to help keep the tax increase minimal.

Consent Calendar

• No separate consent calendar was used; all budget items were discussed individually. Routine approvals were not explicitly noted.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No public comments were made due to technical difficulties with the Zoom platform. One resident attempted to speak but could not unmute.

Discussion Items

Tax Collector

Rosanna Gutierrez presented a budget of $15,934, a decrease of $6,439 from 2024, attributed to in-house billing and reduced conferences. Council had no questions.

Police Department

Quovella Maeweather presented operating budgets for Animal Control ($56,780, up $7,500), Dispatch (increase for language line and equipment), OEM ($13,800, up $1,000 for alternate EOC), and Police ($848,850, up $90,150 due to contractual services, training, uniforms, and an electric vehicle). Capital requests included an electric vehicle, Axon contract renewal (body cams, in-car cameras), eight SUVs, a pickup truck, 10 MPCs, fencing, camera trailers, message boards, and a generator. Council debated spending limits: members suggested reducing camera trailers from four to two and message boards from four to two, and deferring the electric loader to 2026. The director emphasized the necessity of SUVs and the Axon system.

Open Space

Tara Kenyon and Carl Hauck presented an operating budget with a $275,000 increase in salaries for park maintenance (moving toward full funding for 10-month employees). Capital requests included bird blind repairs ($40,000), Delar Park path resurfacing ($300,000), park repairs ($100,000), big belly compactors ($100,000), Catalpa Park development ($750,000, with a $325,000 county grant), and Middlebush turf fields ($650,000). Council discussed deferring the turf field replacement due to current good condition, and Carl Hauck confirmed it could wait two to four years.

Department of Public Works / Water Department

Carl Hauck presented budgets for Board of Ed Transportation, Building & Grounds, Condo Services, Sanitation, Shade Tree, Snow Removal, Streets, Utilities, Vehicle Maintenance, and Water Utility. The water utility operating budget proposed at $22,681,997, up $2,133,069, driven by leak detection, meter replacement, and debt service. Capital projects included meter replacement ($750,000), main replacement ($2 million from infrastructure fee), apartment retrofit pits, large meter replacement, water asset management plan, Hamilton Street water main replacement ($3.8 million, phased over three years), and Kingston Interconnect. Council questioned the timing of Hamilton Street work to avoid patching before county reconstruction in 2029. Carl Hauck explained it could be done in three phases with semi-permanent repairs.

Manager, Finance, and Other Budgets

Robert Vornlocker presented his own budget ($294,650, up $5,000 for office supplies and toner), health insurance (increase of $531,299 offset by $2 million from trust, resulting in 17.5% increase, compared to 40% if fully insured), salary budget ($31,094,981 total, up 2.5%), and other statutory items (pensions, social security, general legal budget down $200,000 to $600,000, debt service up $1.9 million). The total general fund budget proposed at $72,745,183, a $2,689,318 increase (approximately 3.7% without grants). Fund balance is $21.5 million, down from $23 million. Council discussed using fund balance and potential tax increase. The financial oversight committee will meet on Monday to finalize.

Key Outcomes

• Council preliminarily agreed to reduce police capital requests: two camera trailers (instead of four) and two message boards (instead of four). The electric loader was deferred to 2026, pending potential state grant for off-road electric vehicles.
• The water utility will need a rate increase; council requested consideration of tiered rates to minimize impact on residential users.
• The financial oversight committee will meet on March 24 to finalize the budget for introduction at the April council meeting.
• Council asked for analysis on fund balance policy: current policy recommends maintaining at least $20 million; balance is $21.5 million. Further information on tipping points was requested.