March 4, 2024
To: Joint Budget Subcommittee
From: Jamie Hellen, Town Administrator
Amy Frigulietti, Deputy Town Administrator
Re: Preliminary FY26 Budget Presentation - Two Models: A and B
FY26 Budget Preparation History
The Town began the FY26 Budget process on September 11, 2024. The Joint Budget Subcommittee (JBSC) prioritized walking the entire community through the budget process from start to finish. The committee had monthly meetings through the fall, where the Town Administrator and Superintendent of Schools presented budget information and answered questions to show how the budget evolves throughout the year.
All FY26 budget materials are published on the Town Budget webpage as well as archived material back to 2016.
The JBSC has held three well attended Listening Sessions to date. Three sessions remain:
● The Senior Center on March 4th at 9:30 AM;● Virtually (and in Council Chambers) on Saturday, March 8th at 10:00 AM; and● The High School Auditorium on March 12th at 7:00 PM.
The Town Administrator and Superintendent have sat together at every budget meeting for the past two years providing continuous updates and transparency of the entire budget. Town and School staff have been collaborating very closely throughout this budget season to ensure everything possible has been done to mitigate the deficit. Considering the various financial factors at play, the current deficit is actually well managed and reasonable, given circumstances surrounding collective bargaining, health care, redistricting, and the fact that the town used over $3 million in one-time money to patch the FY25 budget. Franklin is not alone statewide.
The Town Administration proposed and held an Executive Session on collective bargaining strategy for FY26 on November 20th with the Town Council, School Committee and Town department heads to discuss budget constraints and collectively strategize for the future. All town officials have been working collaboratively.
Decision Time
It is now time for a full community discussion on the FY26 Budget. The final decision on an override, date, question language, or not, and other decisions are now squarely in the hands of the Town Council, School Committee, Finance Committee and the citizens of Franklin. If the elected and appointed officials place an override on the ballot for later this spring, our professional recommendation is to make that decision at the Council meeting on March 19th, if possible, to give the Town Clerk ample time to prepare and give the community time to engage, educate and organize. If additional community discussion is required, the next Council meeting is April 16th for the Town Council to consider.
As a reminder, $1.12 million was reduced from the municipal budget and transferred to the school department in FY25. There is no more wiggle room in the municipal budget without severe consequences to public education and safety, revenue generation, quality of services, recruitment and retention of employees within all town and school departments and overall regulatory compliance. The municipal Department Heads eloquently described these dynamics in their December letter to the Joint Budget Subcommittee. The letter shows unity and solidarity from all town departments in support of an override because they fully understand the consequences. The community should engage those department heads with questions.
We have prepared two models for the community to depict what is at stake in the FY26 budget. These models could be as is, or in any combination that will build consensus among the community and bridge the budget gap. Attached are two preliminary budget models for your review, discussion, and feedback prior to us filing our formal budget on April 18, 2025.
Please note Model B illustrates the tremendous potential for a downgrade in public education, public safety, general services and the quality of life in Franklin.
Other factors to consider
● Citizens should also expect growing pressure on the state budget, which will trickle down to the local level in FY27 and beyond. Federal austerity measures are likely to place pressure on state and local budgets to restore lost services on everything from hospitals to grant programs to social services and everything in between. Thankfully, the municipal budget does not have any structural federal revenues in the operating budget to lose. The Schools may face impacts down the road with federal cuts to the Department of Education. Currently, however, no federal funds have been reduced to the Town or School District, but this is an issue to keep in mind for FY27 and FY28.
● An override would assist in reducing the “hold harmless” deficit. This number will fluctuate each year based on the state Chapter 70 formula or any changes to the law. This will help the local contribution portion to lessen the Hold Harmless impact.
● A successful override would strengthen our AAA Bond Rating and financial portfolio with ratings agencies, which is critical for financial health of the community and interest rates. A failed override would cause deeper concern among rating agencies, especially combined with the reduction in OPEB contributions and the failed override last year. The Community Preservation Act and Tri-County debt exclusion (including their margins of victory) were factors in the Town receiving a AAA Bond Rating from 2022.
● An approved override will also require a sincere and honest set of new expectations of public service toward the community. We must be mindful of cost increases and limit spending. Many in the community are concerned with affordability of Franklin. Spending must plateau and be limited to core services such as public education, safety, public works and infrastructure. Unless there is a dedicated and sustainable revenue source to pay for an expansion of departments, new initiatives should be only achieved within current revenues.
● The only major capital costs we anticipate in the future are the Police Station, Horace Mann Roof, and Remington-Jefferson remodelling projects, which will likely require a debt exclusion vote within the next three years. All projects have just begun the processes of architectural design and they will take 1-2 years to finalize. The Town will also be required to upgrade water tanks in the community over the next five years, which will only affect public water rate payers through the water department and with potential assistance from the state.
These are financially serious issues the community needs to consider as part of the budget debate for FY26. These are issues facing many communities across Massachusetts.
This is part 1 of the full memo which you can find
Find all the FY 2026 budget info at https://franklinma.gov/Archive.aspx?ADID=500
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Find all the FY 2026 budget info at https://franklinma.gov/Archive.aspx?ADID=500 |
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