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Indiana · 25,728 residents

How much does Franklin spend?

$24.9M
spent from the general fund in

2026 is the budget the town voted. A year's actual spending is audited and published after it ends; the latest on file is 2025.

$967 per resident · $695 in towns its size · 2026 budget voted: $22.9M · all funds, 2026: $36.3M voted

2026 is the budget the town voted. A year's actual spending is audited and published after it ends; the latest on file is 2025.

What is Franklin's money for?

Click a category to see what it pays for.

By categoryShare of budget against towns of the same size$24.9M

“elsewhere”: what towns the same size usually devoteFranklin devotes a larger share of its budgeta smaller share

Shares of the town's general-fund spending. “Elsewhere”: the median share among the towns of the state closest in population — half give more, half less. A town that pays for a category from another fund is left out of that median.

Compare with a town of the same size in Indiana

Franklin versus East Chicago
FranklinEast Chicago
Spending
$967 · $787 per residenttowns its size: $695
Police, fire and public safety
$479 · $381 per residenttowns its size: $379
Debt
$2,449 · $2,455 per residenttowns its size: $2,407

Per resident, 2025 accounts, against the towns of Indiana closest in population. A town above or below is not better or worse run.

What it builds, levies and owes

What it builds

$7.0Mof construction and equipment voted for 2026 · $274 per resident · −2.8% vs 2025

Construction and equipment in the budget the town voted for 2026, all its funds together. Indiana publishes what was actually spent for the general fund only, where towns rarely build.

Where it goes (13 lines)
Economic Dev Income Tax Cedit$3.6M
Motor Vehicle Highway$850,000
Board of Public Works$811,778
Cumulative Capital Development$500,000
Police Department$450,000
Local Road & Street$385,000
Rainy Day$300,000
Cemetery$50,000
Fire Department$44,500
City/Town Hall$25,000
Park & Recreation$25,000
Cumulative Capital Imp$20,000

Property tax

$0.9318per $100 of assessed value · set for 2026 · −24.7% since 2022

The 20 towns of its size: $1.2114 · $17.5M to be raised

The civil city's or town's certified rate, all its funds, as the Department of Local Government Finance certifies it for the year taxes are paid. The county, the township, the schools and the library add their own. Indiana caps a homestead's total bill at 1% of its value.

What it owes

$63.0Mowed at the end of 2025 · $2,449 per resident

$2,407 in towns its size · $3.7M of principal due within a year · +190.5% since 2016

Its largest loans and bonds (of 6)
2025 Sewer Revenue Bonds New Plant ProjectWastewater · Revenue Bonds$43.9M
RDA Lease Rental Rev Bonds 2019Governmental Activities · Revenue Bonds$7.6M
RDC Tax Increment Revenue BondsGovernmental Activities · Revenue Bonds$5.7M
2020 Sewage Works Refunding BondsWastewater · Revenue Bonds$4.3M
2020 General Obligation Refunding BondsGovernmental Activities · General Obligation Bonds$955,000
2012 Park Construction BondGovernmental Activities · General Obligation Bonds$600,000

Every fund of the town, its utilities included: a water or sewer revenue bond is repaid from the bills, not from taxes. Source: the town's Annual Financial Report filed with the Indiana State Board of Accounts.

Voted for 2026

$22.9MThe budget the town adopted for 2026, by category. Its actual spending is not on file yet.

By category

Understand

What this page covers

General fund only, on both sides: the line-item budget each city or town files with the state, and what it actually disbursed, by department. The state publishes departmental actuals for the general fund alone.

Voted budget and actual spending

The voted budget is what the town approved before the year began. Actual spending is what it paid out, audited and reported to the state after the year ended. The two differ: money set aside is not always spent, and budgets are amended during the year.

Comparing with other towns in Indiana

Each state collects its towns' figures in its own way. Some report the general fund only, others every fund; some include schools and others leave them to separate school districts. Per-resident figures are compared between towns of the same state only. A few cities also do the work of a county — San Francisco and Jacksonville among them — and spend far more per resident than a city of the same size.

Source

Indiana Department of Local Government Finance and State Board of Accounts — Gateway (Form 1 budgets, Annual Financial Reports). The state's records ↗ Population: U.S. Census Bureau, Census of Governments (population reported with the unit), 2024 file.

Source: Indiana Department of Local Government Finance and State Board of Accounts — Gateway (Form 1 budgets, Annual Financial Reports).