Sunday, April 26, 2026

FY 2027 Budget Narrative: Facilities Department

From the Town Administrator's FY 2027 Budget narrative, each department's story is worth sharing.

General Purpose

The Facilities Department is responsible for managing the efficient operation and maintenance of Town buildings, preserving the facility and equipment assets of the town, planning and implementing capital improvements, and managing capital construction projects. The department collaborates with all department heads, the Town Administrator and the Superintendent of Schools by establishing appropriate levels of support for building users, fostering continuous improvement in the delivery of services and maintaining ongoing capital planning. The Facilities Department ensures that every Town and School building is safe, functional, compliant, and sustainable - not just today, but well into the future.

Core Functions

● Maintenance Management
○ Preventative Maintenance: Utilizing the Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS), Facilities can perform routine/scheduled maintenance on any asset or system identified. Constant cleaning among our facilities is preventative maintenance.
○ Reactive Maintenance: Using the CMMS, our team can triage and prioritize work orders as they enter our queue for service.
○ Building Use: Within the same CMMS, a feature on the system allows streamlined coordination for space rental, custodial requests and payment.
● Financial Management
○ Purchasing/Payment Processing: Having a 1.2 million square footage footprint across town generates a mass quantity of billing. Analyzing payments for proper recordkeeping are essential for proper management of the department.
○ Budget: Developing accurate budgets from past, present and future economic insights.
● Risk Management
○ Our department ensures compliance of various systems, including life safety systems, as well as policies that are operational and functioning. Maintaining compliance with state and federal laws are a top priority.
● Energy Management
○ The Facilities Department is constantly making efforts to reduce energy and our carbon footprint. Maintaining solar endeavors, participating with local/state/federal energy programs, collaborating with outside agencies on energy reduction opportunities and managing our EV chargers are all part of our energy management plan.
● Project Management
○ Capital Planning: Portfolio review of all facilities and strategic planning for major equipment/asset replacement.
○ Capital Projects: Oversight of various projects that vary from one facility to another. Projects both small and large that may need long term planning or quick turn around are managed by the Facilities Department.

Staffing

● One (1) Director of Public Facilities
● Three (3) Deputy Directors
● One (1) Facilities Administrator
● One (1) Administrative Assistant
● Three (3) Tradespeople
● Twenty eight (28) Custodians (assigned to the schools)
● Fourteen (14) part-time Custodians (assigned to Town buildings)

Strategic Initiatives & Accomplishments

The Facilities Department has undergone recent staff changes over the last year. The previous Facilities Director, Michael D’Angelo, retired this past year and had been the Director for almost 30 years. He changed Franklin, including the Public Schools, forever by improving all public facilities on a shoestring budget. He left an incredible legacy of some of the most well respected town and school buildings of any city or town in the state. The team collectively prepared his succession in hiring a Deputy.

In addition to Michael’s retirement, the Town Electrician and Plumber retired in FY26. The Town Carpenter plans to retire in 2027. This institutional knowledge will be difficult to replace, however the department has prepared for this transition and has timed itself well with other strategies across the board.

The Facilities Department has played a pivotal role in updating our properties infrastructure over several decades. The town utilizes and maintains our own private fiber network to support telephone, data and video. It extends to every town and school building. Although this fiber network is now reaching its capacity in some areas, it has saved the town $50,000/year since implemented 10+ years ago. The Department also assists in the management of cellular assets and equipment on our publicly-owned or private towers throughout the town to help support public safety communications.
 
● Energy reduction is a major factor in Facilities. Various LED lighting upgrades, EV infrastructure, Solar PPA, transformer replacements, upgrading kitchen equipment and more have all played a part in reducing the Town's energy. Figure A shows a moderate and manageable energy usage since 2016. In an economy where utility rates have escalated tremendously, the Department's efforts in reducing usage have proven beneficial.
● Existing and future property use. Some committees and other stakeholders have generated great discussion and opportunity regarding town property. Franklin has multiple buildings with different needs as the Town has grown. Utilizing these properties to best serve the Town and respective departments will be crucial for maintaining a sustainable budget.
● The renovations to the Franklin Middle School roof drains in 2023 was a huge accomplishment that has prevented any further flooding of the courtyards and/or into the schools.
● The municipal building renovation was a $1.4 million dollar investment for new UV protected windows, a new generator, new boilers, a snow melt system, carpet, paint and furniture. The $1.4 million was made up of borrowed & free cash to support the much needed repairs of the building that was purchased over 20 years ago.
● The 2024 removal of the last standing classroom modular, allowed for that area to finally return as an outdoor recreation site for the ECDC Pond Street School.
● Facilities managed and successfully completed security “pedestrian trap” upgrades in 2024. All schools are equipped with “pedestrian traps” for an additional layer of safety.
● The Facilities Department rolled out a new CMMS platform in 2024. The new platform has saved money as well as lending itself a more user-friendly feel for navigating work orders.
● The Senior Center Pavilion project successfully finished in 2025 for under $100,000, allowing outdoor space availability during extreme heat or rainy weather conditions.
● The Facilities Department supported the redistricting of FPS in 2025 with various classroom repairs, moving services, and building infrastructure upgrades (<$500,000). The redistricting is still in process as we strategically phase in school renovation needs.
● Facilities managed the new Franklin High School visitor bleacher project in 2025. The town used $500,000 in ARPA funds to complete the project.
● Facilities managed the Cupola Renovation project at the Town’s Historical Museum. The town used $63,000 in CPA funds to make the necessary repairs.
● In 2023, a centralized digital record system was implemented to optimize documentation management. As the team continues to use the system, it will return its value exceedingly.
● Facilities continues to work with respective departments, OPM, Designer and police station building committee in hopes to develop a new police station for the Police Department.
● Facilities is also working with respective departments and parties to support the King Street Memorial Park renovation.
● Facilities is excited to commence the much needed repair/replacement of the Senior Center fire protection system. The numerous breaks in the existing system have compromised its integrity. The Senior Center is a much valued asset for the town where the investment will be well received.

FY27 Requested Budget Highlights

The $9,463,325 department request is a 5% increase from last year's budget.

FY26 began with numerous unexpected equipment failures across town, including the Senior Center walk-in cooler ($15k), garbage disposal ($5k), Fire Station generator repairs ($6k), Washington Elementary gym divider ($9k), Lincoln Elementary gym unit ($14k), Lincoln Elementary elevator repairs ($18k), FMS sump pump repairs ($15k), Senior Center water heater ($13k), FMS hot water tank ($7k), Washington Elementary boiler repairs ($4k), and widespread sprinkler system component replacements.

These incidents highlight the ongoing challenges posed by aging equipment and infrastructure. Adequate funding is critical to ensure the Facilities Department can respond promptly to emergencies, maintain safe and functional buildings, and prevent small issues from escalating into costly or disruptive failures. Investing in these emergency repairs now reduces long-term risk and helps preserve the town’s facilities for the community.

Other cost drivers for FY27 include:
● Slight increases in both Electricity and Natural Gas prices. These accounts make up one third of the Facilities Department’s budget. Department amounts requested are aligned closer with previous actuals rather than requests at the beginning of the fiscal year. Combined, these requested line items have 3.36% increases over FY26 to support the anticipated costs.
● The increases in EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE, OTHER CONTRACTUAL SERVICES, OTHER MONITORING SERVICES and other are to continue supporting the preventative maintenance of major equipment similar to ones described above in this section. Total expenses, the department is requesting a 6.11% increase.
● Although you see a slight dip in “BLDG MAINT SVC-EQUIPMENT” requests, you will see increases in other accounts where specific bills should live for budgeting purposes.
● As society evolves with green energy efforts, costs in removal of waste continue to climb. The disposal services line shows the 33% increase needed to support the demand.

FY27 Requested Budget Summary

FY27 will be a transition year for Facilities. Budgetary restructuring will support more accurate accounting for leadership due to redistricting and sustainability visions. (Example; previously Remington Middle and Jefferson Elementary each had separate accounts although under one roof. Now Washington Elementary will be one combined account).

Future budget restructuring will help navigate the emergency repairs. Pursuing inspection and capital planning features through our CMMS will accommodate preventative measures in which the Department firmly represents as a core essential in Facilities Management. As we stabilize our budget and maintenance cycles, we will pivot toward existing “Smart Building” integration and emerging technologies, utilizing AI. This could assist in staffing opportunities, reduction in reactive maintenance, and drive future planning processes.

The Facilities Department has been one of the most impacted departments over the past five fiscal years with devastating inflation and increased utility costs. The money they have goes less further today. Additionally, the Department suffered huge cuts to their budgets over the past two fiscal years, including $400,000 in FY26, which compounded the issues presented with skyrocketing costs over the past five years.

1 million of the 1.3 million square feet of buildings are schools. Thus the cuts to Facilities significantly affects schools.

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