Wednesday, May 20, 2026

Town Council FY 2027 budget hearings scheduled over 2 nights; May 20 & May 21

The Town Council meetings over the next 2 nights will give the new, and yes, since they haven't (most of them anyway), done a budget hearing before, this is all new to the Council.

The normal format is Wednesday, the first night, the line item summary for each of the departments is read aloud by the Clerk of the Council. As it is read, a member (or multiple members) placed a hold on a department line item for follow-up (question, comment, etc.). 

A few departments are generally held automatically by the Chair (Police, Fire, Schools, DPW, Facilities). 

After the list of holds is confirmed, the Council will start back at the beginning of the listing (account number order per the 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.

If any questions can't be answered (usually due to additional research required), those are carried over to the second night. After all those are done, the Council usually votes on the budget.

Not this time around.

Recall that at the end of the 4 Finance Committee hearings, it was revealed that the current budget version would not be revised to include 
  • the latest from the Senate or House versions
  • the actual costs for the GIC health plans for FY 2027
  • the Finance Committee recommendations.
Until after Memorial Day, and ready for the Finance Committee meeting May 27. The Finance Committee is also scheduled to meet June 3, at one of these 2 sessions, the Finance Committee will get to vote on the revised budget. The Town Council mets on June 10 and will at that time get to close out this portion of the FY 2027 budget. 

So settle in, the questions and answers are going to be interesting to see which way the Council will go on the budget.

Town Council budget hearing #1 agenda

Town Council budget hearing #2 agenda

Finance Committee budget hearings covered spent 16+ hours reviewing, questioning, and deliberating on the FY 2027 budget over 4 nights. The YouTube videos are available on the TV Town Hall Channel. The meeting recap for each session is available at Franklin.News
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