Franklin Matters: Voices of Franklin: Dear Franklin Town Council & School Committee, "Please, vote to put the override on the ballot in June"

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Voices of Franklin: Dear Franklin Town Council & School Committee, "Please, vote to put the override on the ballot in June"

Dear Franklin Town Council & School Committee, Mr. Helen and Superintendent Giguere,

I am writing to you this evening to urge you all to vote to put the override on the ballot this June. Anyone who claims this has been a rushed process has simply not been paying attention. I take particular umbrage at the residents who have lived here far longer than I have who are claiming this override process has been rushed. As someone who only moved here in late 2021, and, again, has a toddler and an infant at home, I should be the resident who has no idea of the financial straits Franklin is in. And yet I am aware. The idea that this override process has been rushed is simply absurd. A simple Google search will pull up the former Superintendent of Schools comments from 2008 - 16 years ago - about the financial crunch facing the Franklin Schools.

Former Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once wrote, "taxes are the price we pay to live in a civilized society." That's the ballgame - taxes are the price we pay to enjoy all the benefits of civilization. At the local level, that means our water and sewer systems work, our roads are paved, we have police and fire departments, we have good schools, and all of those services must be funded adequately.

I believe reasonable people can disagree. I also believe that reasonable people, when looking at the financial data provided, will happily shell out more money in property taxes in order to continue to fund our local government properly, because the alternative is horrifying.

Let me be clear - I want to live in a town where our local services are properly funded. If that means I pay more in property taxes to do so, then I will do so happily. I want the Franklin Police Department to be fully funded (and I want them to get the new police station they need when the time comes for that). I want the Fire Department to be fully funded. I want the DPW to be fully funded. I want the Library to be fully funded. I want the Facilities Department to be fully funded, and yes, I want to make damn sure the schools are fully funded as well. And I know that nothing in life comes free, so I (and many more people in town) are willing to pay that cost, to ensure that our local services remain the best they can be.

I know Franklin does have people on fixed incomes, and this will be difficult for them. This includes my own aunt and uncle living here as well. I have all the sympathy in the world for people on fixed incomes during these times of crazy inflation. I can only hope that they understand this override is absolutely necessary and their sense of civic duty and pride in the town of Franklin motivates them to vote in favor of it, despite the additional hardship such an override will represent.

However, I believe a lot of the opposition to the override comes from people who are currently in the workforce, people who have seen the property values of their homes skyrocket in recent years, and simply buy into the narrative that government is the problem and that taxes are a form of theft. Please, ignore those people, as they do not represent the majority of voters here in Franklin. Please, vote to put the override on the ballot in June. Thank you all for your service - I know that you all get a lot of flak in your positions as government leaders. Keep your heads up, ignore the negativity, and please do the right thing and put the override to the ballot in June. I look forward to seeing the joint Town Council/School Committee meeting this Wednesday at FHS.

Respectfully,

Ben Liberto

23 Southgate Rd.