Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Live reporting: Finance Committee - Budget Hearing #3

Present: Dufour, Dowd, Conley, Huempfner, Dewsnap, Fleming, Moses, Smith,  
Absent: Weich

motion to approve prior meeting minutes, seconded, passed 8-0

FY 2018 Budget Presentation:


  • Tri County 390 C -2

Superintendent Dockery


  • Norfolk Aggie 395 C - 6

assessment based upon student population
currently 13 students, 9 new applications, whether they get accepted or not is not known yet


  • Assessors 141 A - 10

Kevin Doyle
recent change to re-evaluation cycle, instead of every 3 years, now would be every 5 years
minimal changes from prior years



  • Health 510/525 E – 1, E - 7

David McKearney
$12,600 addition proposed for part-time office help, increase from 16 hours to 32 hours of administration support
asking (yet again) for stipends for the Board of Health members
Town Administrator (yet again) denies the request (18 years running)
comprehensive budget narrative accompanies the line item budget

Council by charter rule can't get compensation, generally all other don't get
at some point, it should be part of the Charter, but other than the Board of Health no one ever asks

2 full time, 1 part time (14 hours), 1 part time admin (16 hours)
with an addition of of 1 part time (16 hours)


  • Planning 177 A - 38

Bryan Taberner
basically flat budget, staffing the same
$3000 increase for advertising, to help with economic development marketing
working on a hazard mitigation project
plan for off street linkage and trails
working on the development of the Cultural District proposal

advertising gets reimbursed via the applicant fees
marketing is a town expense, split out the two lines to better track



  • COA 541 E - 38

Karen Alves
asking to full fund the health and wellness nurse, currently only partially funding
accounting for the funding from multiple accounts is a nightmare
would free up grant money for other purposes
about 120-150 per day
about 20% are not Franklin residents
only about 4/5 Senior Centers in the State serve breakfast and lunch daily

about $50,000 per year from grants

no numbers yet on what the expansion has done to volume



  • Library 610 F - 1

Felicia Oti
additional space requiring some additional staffing, part time
3 criteria for state funding

  • minimal local funding
  • books and materials
  • hours available

at 75% of where we should be for minimal local funding, moving a little back at a time
will need to file for a waiver once again

even in interim location, the volume is good; 2,000 items lent to other libraries via inter-library loan
volume puts concern of library commissioners to rest as they fear Franklin being a burden on other libraries

looking to add programs when they return to the renovated building in Aug/Sep

coordinated program to do a "story walk" at DelCarte with Rec Department

looking for 3 part time to start; will re-evaluate during the year for next year with the new facility

most of the increase in books is actually for the electronic/digital versions

extension to schedule justified by things that weren't known; including bad soil where the foundations were set to be placed



  • Town Clerk 161 A -31 
  • Elections 164 A - 34 

Teresa Burr
only increase is in the printing of the annual report
had been in the Town Administration side previously
currently 500 copies are being printed, being quantities reduced 

state requirements for record keeping is paper and microfiche

State Elections office recognized Franklin as no one having done this better in the State then was found here
great turnout at over 30%
would consider another location for next time around

replacement of the voting machines will be a capital budget item for FY 2019
will go more digital than what we have today

thanks to the poll workers who helped make the day and process a success




  • Recreation 630 F - 7

Ryan Jette
18 years with rec dept
100% self supporting budget, recouped through the fees in the program
opening a new gym at the Beaver St location
increase in funding required to outfit the new space
volleyball, basketball courts, etc.
most of the tax workoff folks provide support
new fitness programs for all ages, including adults
will have handicap restrooms, waiting room for parents

coordinate field use with the schools and leagues
turf fields will be offline for replacement of the turf
all the rain has caused scheduling issues

new playground coming in April/May at DelCarte
being replaced by manufacturer due to issues with the original install
will have tree components but with more traditional materials

the water park was too expensive, would have been over $200,000
would have required testing 4 times a day, hence too costly
the playground at Fletcher Field has done well

didn't make sense to use a water park with the water bans in place
it also would have cost twice to use recycled water

beach is staffed with gate guard but no life guards, swim at your own risk
summer camp is over 100 kids a week

May 20th discount for early sign up ends

fields offline June 12; will need to transfer funds from accounts and free cash to fund the work



  • Debt 710/750 G - 1

Jim Dacey
library bond due in May, rolling over and adding to to get through the fiscal year, and then bonded next year
high school outstanding, $4M anticipation bond, audit underway to confirm what the final borrowing would be
likely a guess would be 53% of the 100M cost
we started at 40, 5 points for model school, 2.7 for maint credit, to end up at 59.5
MSBA requires reports on maint to get the main credit, audited and inspected, rated in 2010 or 2012 before school was started; despite peoples perception

we took the facilities out of the school budget, by swapping that over, I think it has been a huge asset to the Town; came to pass in 2009 and credit to all those who do the work all the time

try to keep the debt at 3 to 3.5%, right now it is down about 2.5%, will be looking to sequence other requirements in as the other school debt rolls off, the library will come on for 20 years


Employee Benefits 910 H - 1
Liability Insurance 945 H - 6
covered on Monday's meeting

Action Items:
FY 2018 Budget Votes

all budget items being voted by 8-0 vote to pass

with lack of copy of budget doc, can't keep track of totals
the FY 18 budget doc will be available in the next week to 10 days with full budget books available in Town Administration, and Town Clerk's office

including enterprise funds, approx $120M recommended budget

May 24, 25 Town Council budget hearings scheduled

will need another meeting to review the bids for the fields and snow/ice final to bring back the remainder of the capital budgeting


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