Town Council Approves FY27 Operating Budget and Capital Investments for Franklin, MA

June 12, 2026 Town Council Approves FY27 Operating Budget and Capital Investments The Town Council approved the Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) operating budget, establishing the Town's financial blueprint and funding priorities for the upcoming fiscal year. Please read the short, two-page FY27 Budget Snapshot and Summary of key investments and highlights of the budget process: FY27 Budget Snapshot and Summary (PDF). The FY27 budget review process began with the Finance Committee conducting several budget hearings totaling more than 17 hours of review and discussion. Throughout the process, committee members worked closely with Town and School officials to evaluate departmental requests, review financial projections, and develop recommendations for the Town Council. The Franklin School Committee and Town Council have met jointly twice since the election, showing voters that collaboration is at the center of the work plan for the legislative session. Many members have been also attending their respective meetings and working very closely together through this budget season.  The FY27 approved budget does not include any proposals for an override, tax increase or other new rate increases to balance the budget. The budget also does not include any proposed reduction to key town departments, including the Franklin Public Schools (FPS), Fire Department, Police Department or Public Works, Senior Center or Library.  These approvals represent important milestones in advancing Franklin's operational, capital, public safety, and community preservation priorities for FY27. With the budget now approved, Town departments will move forward with implementing the programs, services, and investments outlined in the fiscal year plan. The FY27 budget reflects a collaborative effort among Town Councilors, Finance Committee members, School Committee members, Town and School staff, and department leaders to support the services, infrastructure, and community investments that residents rely on while maintaining a commitment to responsible financial planning. Check out the two-page budget snapshot and summary: FY27 Budget Snapshot and Summary (PDF) Take a Closer Look: FY27 Budget Archive  Explore Town budget archives dating back to 2016: Franklin Budget Archive Center  View it on website

Download the Budget Snapshot - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b-0-Fy6oXvJioIZLebkniaZ8Jl3MqVFo/view?usp=sharing

FY 2027 Budget Narrative: Assessing Department

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

General Purpose

As the foundation department to raise $107+ million for the annual Town operating expenses, the primary mission of the Board of Assessors and its professional and administrative staff is to prepare assessment roles for the taxation of real and personal property and motor vehicle excise. In order to assure that the tax levy is applied fairly and equitably at full and fair cash value, the inventory of all taxable property must be annually updated. Then through a market analysis, each parcel and account is appraised and classified according to use in order to determine the valuations, establish the tax rate and apply the appropriate tax to each account.

Core Functions

● In accordance with MGL, the Commissioner of the Department of Revenue oversees all the regulation requirements of local assessment, and develops guidelines for the accomplishment of those requirements. Thus, all assessing functions are statutory and are subject to certification by the Commissioner or assigned agent of the DOR.

● Annually maintain assessors’ maps, plans, property transfers and valuation records.

● Complete annual updates to the inventory of real and personal property.

● Conduct research on the real estate market; sales ratio studies and investment property income and expense analysis.

● Value and classify all real and personal property each year according to the optimum schedule based on our market analysis subject to approval by the MA DOR.

● Identify “New Growth” and report it to the DOR for certification, along with valuation and tax rate reports for their approval. Finalize the tax rate.

● Process all real and personal property tax commitments, abatements and exemptions.

● Process betterments, liens and apportionments.

● Generate motor vehicle excise tax commitments and process abatements of the same as required by Massachusetts General Law.

● Prepare and certify lists of abutters for legal notices for Hearings by Town Council, Conservation, Planning and the Zoning Board of Appeals.

● Maintain and provide Public Records in accordance with Massachusetts General Law.

Staffing

● One (1) Director of Assessing

● Three (3) Appraisers

● One (1) Assessment Administrator*

● Three (3) Part-Time Volunteer elected Assessors - Board of Assessors

*Proposed New Position for FY27

Strategic Initiatives & Accomplishments

● Successful timely tax rate setting; finalized the tax rate at $11.42 per thousand dollars.

● Made location-based data readily available for Town Staff and the Public, continue to advocate use of the unique Parcel ID’s in addition to the Town’s MAT (Master Address Table) of accepted addresses. Encourage Town Staff to use this unique Parcel Identifier in order to work with GIS to request datalinks in AxisGIS to enhance this “one-stop shopping” Central Database, improving research and decision-making for all Town Staff as well as benefiting the public at large.

● Upon use of a new system/application or increased use of an existing application, establish uniform standards of database building and ongoing updating. Examples:

○ 2002 - standards established for Patriot Real Estate administration & appraisal

○ 2003 - standards established for new Maps/GIS (aerials, deed & plan research)

○ 2006 - standards established for MUNIS Excise, Real & Personal Property Taxes

○ 2016 - standards established for Records Archives, organization & retention

○ 2026 - converted CAMA (computer assisted mass appraisal) system to the newest Patriot operating system known as Catalis AP5

● FY27 is a “Revaluation Year”. While in each Interim Year we establish new Real and Personal Property valuations applying the appraisal industry and DOR standards, a Revaluation Year involves more in depth reviews of the data including on site. This more intense year began for us in January 2026 with confidential requests per MGL for data from certain real and personal property owners. For FY27, town wide reviews, recollections and collection of new Personal Property accounts have already been performed and valuations as of January 1, 2026 will be set by this fiscal year end. Considerable work especially in the area of real estate must be accomplished over the next several months to accomplish final valuations, a public disclosure period and a timely tax rate.

FY27 Requested Budget Highlights

● When the Department’s Administrative Assistant retired in 2019, we invested in replacing that position with a full-time Appraiser to comply with a more aggressive inspection schedule. However, with the Town population and property growth, it is evident that in order to fully benefit from the talents and dedication of our Appraisal staff, we must have one full time Administrative Assistant. This person will manage Personal Exemptions (qualifying seniors, veterans and blind property owners), Motor Vehicle Excise Tax Abatements, and inquiries from property owners and their agents for real estate and personal property data and taxes. Without funding this critical position, the professional appraisal staff can neither sufficiently enhance revenues nor improve the fairness and equity of taxes. The addition of an Assessment Administrator should make it feasible to issue a timely Actual Tax Bill by December 31st for FY27.

● Increase of $4,733 for software licensing and support.

● Decrease of $423 in appraisals

● Decrease of $25,400 in Personal Property collection and valuation

● Increase of $400 for supplies

● Increase of $400 for continuing professional education

● Increase of $200 for professional dues

 

FY27 Requested Budget Summary

In order to accomplish all our requirements under Massachusetts General Law, our budget must be approved as presented. We have used restraint and have been able to reduce our overall expenses from FY26 to FY27. However, while we would have been in a better position had we been able to hire an Assessment Administrator last July as we prepared for our FY27 Revaluation, it is now critical that we have that support in order for the Appraisers to resume the level of work they were hired and required to do. As previously stated, the Town has grown considerably over the past half century and so has the amount of traffic. This and the growth of property maintenance and desired renovations especially in the 25 to 50 year old properties added to the time required to do our work. The Assessing Department has continuously developed work procedural efficiencies and implemented new tools over the past 25 years. For the sake of the $107+ million we raise annually, please approve this budget request.

The PDF of this section - 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1znOZ-cq2RIH9W0zDxFTpmMP5ywu9B0c6/view?usp=drive_link

For the full FY 2027 budget narrative -  https://www.franklinma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/8912/FY27-Budget-Narrative-FINAL-1

The FY 2027 budget information can be found 

https://www.franklinma.gov/Archive.aspx?ADID=577

What's happening in Franklin, MA: Monday, March 30, 2026 ???

Monday, March 30

9:00am Fallen Hero: W. Franklin Lynch (Veterans Walkway, Franklin Town Common)

Library & Senior Center events

For additional details on Library events -> 

https://www.franklinma.gov/942/Calendar-of-Events

For additional details on Senior Center events ->   

https://www.franklinma.gov/calendar.aspx?CID=37,24&showPastEvents=false

Note: Senior Center checking on why their events are suddenly being shown as "All Day". You can use the monthly newsletter for specific program/event times

***  Town Meetings today   ***

Board of Assessors

Monday, March 30 Time: 8:30 AM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03302026-2212 

Franklin Agricultural Committee

Monday, March 30 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03302026-2215 

Franklin School Committee - Horace Mann Legacy Subcommittee

Monday, March 30 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03302026-2211 

Library Board of Directors Regular Meeting

Monday, March 30 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03302026-2216 

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Find the full Community event calendar  https://bit.ly/FranklinCommunityCalendar

If you have an event to add to the calendar, you can use the form to submit it for publication:  https://bit.ly/Submit2Calendar

The Town meeting calendar is found  https://www.franklinma.gov/Calendar.aspx
The School district calendar is found  https://franklinpublicschooldistrictma.sites.thrillshare.com/o/fpsd/page/school-calendar

Boston Globe Editorial lacks understanding of the MA General Law regarding the assessment process

"It’s by any standard a dream house — a single-family townhouse on the much-desired sunny side of Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. And at $21 million, which is what it sold for last November, not exactly a bargain. Well, that is until you look at its bargain basement tax assessment — a mere $12.5 million.

What a deal, right?

But for a city looking to capture more revenue, it’s a lost opportunity when high-end properties aren’t taxed at their full market value.

And it comes at a time when Mayor Michelle Wu bemoans the 13 percent rise in the city’s residential property tax rate — and lays the blame on a Legislature reluctant to go along with her proposed tax-shift plan to put an increased burden on commercial real estate."

Continue reading the article with the shared link - 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/08/opinion/assessments-property-tax-boston/?s_campaign=sharetool_copypaste_view

4 hour Finance Meeting recording in 2 parts for convenience: P1 - economics of development, P2 - capital budget (audio)

FM #1643-44 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1643-44 in the series. 

This session shares the Finance Committee meeting conducted Wednesday, January 14, 2026. 8 members of the Committee participated, 1 absent. 

4 hour Finance Meeting recording in 2 parts for convenience

The recording is in 2 parts:

P1 for the economics of development

P2 for the capital budget

Quick recap -> 

• Board of Assessors and Town Staff: The Economics of Development, residential valuations are based upon residential property sales and comparables. Commercial Industrial valuations are more complicated in that there is a revenue factor for how much money the operations is actually making (confidentially reported to the Assessors) along with several other factors. The repeated phrase was "it's complicated"

• We did hear that there is NO issue with water supply or sewer capacity. Police and Fire are understaffed (but managing as best they can for the volume), Schools built extra capacity as part of the redistricting effort. The per pupil amount talked of is not what each net new student would cost. There are existing capacities to handle some number of students without adding a teacher

• Part of the agenda included an update on the abatement process which was not covered and seems to be deferred to a future meeting (TBD)

• The capital budget first pass was approved after a lengthy discussion. Town policy calls for funding multiple stabilization accounts, this year only the OPEB account was proposed for funding due to the budget shortfall and that it had not been funded last year.

• The OPEB fund resolution passed 8-0-1 (1 absent)

• The first pass at the tier 1 capital requests accounted for $1.8M and was proposed to amend to remove the sprinkler system work required at the Senior Center. The amendment was meant to reserve the additional $750K for the potential budget deficit. The motion to amend after a lengthy discussion failed by a 1-7-1 (1 for, 1 absent, 7 against removal for the item). The vote on the original resolution passed 7-1-1 (7 for, 1 against, 1 absent)

The recording for Part 1 - Economics of development runs just over 2 hours

https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1643-franklin-ma-finance-cmte-mtg-p1-of-2-01-14-26/

The recording for Part 2 - the capital budget runs just under 2 hours

https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1644-franklin-ma-finance-cmte-mtg-p2-of-2-01-14-26/

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Franklin TV video for replay -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaC9XFahY1M 

The agenda and released documents for this meeting -> https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_01142026-2089 

My notes collected in one PDF -> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qRDOyvDbYn1A5DqogXU-4DpgjpwYvRNH/view?usp=drive_link 

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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial. 

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.

How can you help?

• If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors

• If you don't like something here, please let me know

• And if you have interest in reporting on meetings or events, please reach. We’ll share and show you what and how we do what we do

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/  or www.franklin.news 

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.

I hope you enjoy!

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You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

What's happening in Franklin, MA: Wednesday, November 19, 2025 ???

Wednesday, November 19

10:00am

What's happening in Franklin, MA

Free Haircuts for Veterans (Franklin Senior Center)

11:00am Franklin Q&A (Franklin Senior Center)

1:00pm Scribblers Writing Group (recording session) (Franklin Senior Center)

1:00pm Where's the Toast? Memory Cafe (Franklin Senior Center)

6:30pm Queer Book Club (Franklin TV and Radio 102.9 FM)

Library & Senior Center events

For additional details on Library events -> 

https://www.franklinma.gov/942/Calendar-of-Events

For additional details on Senior Center events ->   

https://www.franklinma.gov/calendar.aspx?CID=37,24&showPastEvents=false

**    Town Meetings today   **

Board of Assessors Meeting

Wednesday, November 19 Time: 4:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_11192025-2009 

Town Council Meeting

Wednesday, November 19 Time: 6:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_11192025-2010 

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Find the full Community event calendar  https://bit.ly/FranklinCommunityCalendar

If you have an event to add to the calendar, you can use the form to submit it for publication:  https://bit.ly/Submit2Calendar

The Town meeting calendar is found  https://www.franklinma.gov/Calendar.aspx
The School district calendar is found  https://franklinpublicschooldistrictma.sites.thrillshare.com/o/fpsd/page/school-calendar

2025 Biennial Election: Audio - Video Candidate Interviews in Ballot Order (updated)

2025 Biennial Election 

Audio & Video Candidate Interviews in Ballot Order

Video playlist on YouTube ->  https://bit.ly/2025-ElectionCollection

You can download the PDF ->    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wlklPHHqadplsxnwkC4ogV1AwVKEk5xh/view?usp=drive_link

Role	Audio	Video
Board of Health (write in candidates)
Christine Mucciarone	link	link
Diane Daddario	link	link

Role	Audio	Video
Planning Board
Mark Mucciarone	link	link
Eric Steltzer	link	link
Planning Board - Associate
William Lee IV	link	link
School Committee
David Callaghan	link	link
Al Charles	link	link
Paul Griffith	link	link
Ruthann O’Sullivan	link	link
KP Sompally	link	link
Henry Ries Hansen	link	link
Stephen Karunakarun	link	link
Nadi Masoulf	link	link
Town Council
Ted Cormier-Leger	link	link
Robert Dellorco	link	link
Glenn Jones	link	link
Tom Mercer	link	link
Patrick Sheridan	link	link
Jane Callaway-Tripp	link	link
Gene Grella	link	link
Caroline Griffith	link	link
Michael LeBlanc	link	link
Stephen Malloy	link	link
Max Morrongiello	link	link
Ken Ojukwu	link	link

There are a few candidates and position for which there is no audio or video. So if they are not listed here, we did what we could. Check with the candidates themselves for an answer.

2025 Town of Franklin Biennial Election