Frontline 08 · Explainers
The bills, the maps and the meetings that run a household here, explained once and kept current. Each explainer answers one question from the primary sources, shows its work, and carries the date its figures were last checked.
Explainer · Moving hereFeatured · Last checked October 20, 2026
Twelve steps in the order they fall due: what to check before signing, what to start the week you move, and the 30-day clock on a license, plates and a voter registration.
Explainers
Explainer · Living hereWhat residents say in the city's own survey, then the figures for cost, schools, crime, health, jobs, commuting, weather and the river, each beside the state's, and which households carry the costs.
Explainer · PopulationThe count at every census since 1870, the Census Bureau's 2025 estimate, why the state, the city and the ZIP codes give different numbers, and where the 2010s' 21,000 newcomers went.
Explainer · County governmentThe 24 commissioners and their 12 districts, which two answer to your address, the $921.9 million budget and the tax rate they set in June, how a resolution passes with 13 votes, and how each of them voted in 2026.
Explainer · DevelopmentWho files, what the Planning Commission decides, the board's three readings and the one public hearing, the two rezonings with hearings on November 10, and what the state's review deadlines change from January 1.
Explainer · City governmentWho the mayor and eight aldermen are, which of them your ward elects, how an ordinance becomes law in two or three readings, and how often the board split in 2026.
Explainer · Trash pickupWhich day the city picks up at your address, what goes in the cart and the blue bin, how brush, leaves and a sofa get hauled away, and what changes on a holiday week.
Explainer · Water billThe four lines on a City of Franklin utility bill, who sets each one, what January's increases add, and what the city will and will not adjust when a bill comes in high.
Explainer · School zoningTwo districts, the lines between their schools, who moves those lines, and why the zip code on a listing does not settle which school a house is zoned for. With every zoned high school's enrollment and open seats.
Explainer · Property taxHow the Assessor's value becomes a bill, the 2026 rate in every town in the county, an estimator, the calendar from appraisal to due date, and what to do if the value looks wrong.
The series
How the Assessor's value becomes a bill, the 2026 rate in every town in the county, an estimator, the calendar from appraisal to due date, and what to do if the value looks wrong.
Two districts, the lines between their schools, who moves those lines, and why the zip code on a listing does not settle which school a house is zoned for. With every zoned high school's enrollment and open seats.
The four lines on a City of Franklin utility bill, who sets each one, what January's increases add, and what the city will and will not adjust when a bill comes in high.
Which day the city picks up at your address, what goes in the cart and the blue bin, how brush, leaves and a sofa get hauled away, and what changes on a holiday week.
Who the mayor and eight aldermen are, which of them your ward elects, how an ordinance becomes law in two or three readings, and how often the board split in 2026.
Who files, what the Planning Commission decides, the board's three readings and the one public hearing, the two rezonings with hearings on November 10, and what the state's review deadlines change from January 1.
The 24 commissioners and their 12 districts, which two answer to your address, the $921.9 million budget and the tax rate they set in June, how a resolution passes with 13 votes, and how each of them voted in 2026.
The count at every census since 1870, the Census Bureau's 2025 estimate, why the state, the city and the ZIP codes give different numbers, and where the 2010s' 21,000 newcomers went.
What residents say in the city's own survey, then the figures for cost, schools, crime, health, jobs, commuting, weather and the river, each beside the state's, and which households carry the costs.
Twelve steps in the order they fall due: what to check before signing, what to start the week you move, and the 30-day clock on a license, plates and a voter registration.
Ask Frontline
A line on a bill, a sign on a lot, a rule nobody could explain at the counter. Send the question. The best ones become the next explainer, and we will credit you by first name and neighborhood unless you would rather we did not.