Town Council spends 4 hours reviewing details of the FY 2026 budget (video)

The Franklin, MA Town Council conducted the first of 2 budget hearings for the FY 2026 budget on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. All 9 councilors were present to start the meeting, 1 left not feeling well during the 4 hour session (Chandler).

The Franklin TV video is available for replay ->     https://www.youtube.com/live/OBuOFLY5kZY?&t=184

The Council agenda and associated budget documents can be found here ->

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05212025-1752 

Budget hearing process summary

This first night, the line item summary for each of the departments is read aloud by the Clerk of the Council. As read, members can place a hold on a department line item for follow-up (question, comment, etc.).

A few departments were held automatically by the Chair (Police, Fire, Schools, DPW, Facilities). Another 14 departments were held by one or members of the Council.

After the list of holds was confirmed, they started back at the beginning of the listing (account number order per voting document) to address the question for that item. Councilors first, then Council Chamber community members, then Zoom participants, until all questions, comments were addressed for each item.

My notes captured via Twitter/X during the session are collected in one PDF file

https://drive.google.com/file/d/11W1dMjvh9zB0X9Bqw8CgfLus5YZG7arZ/view?usp=drive_link