FRANKLIN—At the midway point during the fiscal year, the Franklin City budget is lining up with projections and the previous year.

“I feel really good about our progress and our accuracy of our budget projections overall,” said City Manager Randy Martin. “It is a very positive situation to be in.

“We are on target to meet our budget, and hopefully exceed it, to further build reserves going forward.”

Finance Director Melissa Rollins went through item-by-item this past Monday, as she reviewed the budget figures for the period ending Dec. 31, 2013.

Revenues

In the review of local taxes and other revenues, Rollins said that the end-of-the-year projection for general property tax collection is expected to meet budget. Currently, city has collected $4.02 million, which is 56.8 percent of the budget figure of $6.96 million. This is up slightly from the previous fiscal year, when the city was at $3.9 million, or 56.6 percent of the budget.

General property tax includes personal property and real estate taxes.

Rollins said that other local taxes are projected to perform to budget. Currently, 49 percent of the budget figure is collected. Rollins added that sales and use taxes and cigarette taxes are down compared to the previous year, but this is being made up for meals and lodging taxes tracking higher than last year.

Business licenses, motor vehicles and other local taxes are meeting projected budget figures.

Meals taxes are up 2 percent from last year, and so far, the collection has been approximately $625,000. Lodging taxes are up 18.4 percent, or $86,520 compared to $74,076 for year ended 2013.

Sales taxes, however, stand at $845,568 for the year ended 2014, compared to $877,752 collected at this point last year. Cigarette taxes collected currently stands at approximately $160,000, compared to approximately $176,000 collected during the previous year.

Projections for other local revenue are projected to meet or exceed budget figures in the case of permits, fees and fines. State and federal aid are projected to meet budget, with the exception of communication taxes, which is projected to fall $13,000 below the budgeted figure.

Expenses

General fund expenditures currently track at 46 percent of budget, compared to having spent 41 percent of budget for year ending in 2013. The biggest changes are in streets, buildings and grounds, and fire and rescue.

Street expenditures are up $761,338 from the previous year, and that’s related to street paving and other capital expenditures for the year. Buildings and grounds are up $264,274, which is due to roof replacements. Personnel costs, which were paid for by grants, are the fire and rescue budget, which rose $263,222.

The refuse collection and disposal budget item is down $249,403, as the city transitions to the solid waste fund.

At the Franklin Municipal Airport, fuel sales of $68,000 are comparable to last year, said Rollins. Expenditures for fuel sales are 44 percent of budget.

“There’s nothing alarming there,” said Rollins. “There’s a small amount of federal and state reimbursement, but we expect to see additional funds in that area.”

Martin said that at the middle of the year point, they have only gone through less than $10,000 of their contingency funds, which was for school security measures.

“We were concerned earlier in the year that we would have to supplement the jail authority,” he said. “We didn’t in the first half, and our hope is that we will not in the second half.”

Utility Funds

The water and sewer fund’s revenue of $1.5 million is 48.1 percent of the budget. It’s down .8 percent from the year ended 2013.

Expenditures for water and sewer are $200,000 less than the prior year due to capital project expenditures.

The solid waste fund revenues are tracking to meet budget, Rollins said. The revenues are $577,000, or 41 percent of the budget. Operating expenditures are less than 40 percent of the budget at $347,000.

The solid waste fund cash balance is up from November, or $300,000 as compared to approximately $274,000.

“I’d like to see that fund trend upward,” Rollins said.

The electric fund has a revenue of $6.18 million through energy sales, which is 47 percent of the budget. Last year, the city had collected $6.3 million, which was 48 percent of the budget.

Operating expenses of $555,000 are 38 percent of what’s budgeted.

The cash balance in the electric fund decreased from November, from $876,767 to $733,858. November was also down from October, which stood at $904,924.

The fund is still up from Dec. 31, 2012, where the fund stood at $287,190.

“The city did receive a receivable for assistance,” Rollins said. “That money has not been credited to cash until it is received. Hopefully, that will help narrow the gap.”

The cash balance is $604,000 below the minimum set by city council. The electric fund cash balance helps the city pay for damage or improvements as they come up, which can help in saving customers money.

Martin said he was pleased with the state of the budget.

“Overall, we are where we want to be at the mid-year point,” he said. “There have been no major surprises other than budget amendments during the year to receive grant funds. We continue to have success with that during the year.”