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!

------------------

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

"And that confusion is going to cause a real slowdown in the U.S. economy, if not a recession." (video)

"I think there's a certain confusion here. What are tariffs for?" @hooverinstitution senior fellow Niall Ferguson said in May, citing President Trump's conflicting rationales for taxing imports.

"And that confusion is going to cause a real slowdown in the U.S. economy, if not a recession."

Check out Margaret Hoover’s interview with Niall Ferguson on PBS, YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzOl4cXBhjw

Shared from -> https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNG1EE2N8IZ/

Inside the trade deficit, what it really means (video)

The first 8 minutes of this is enough to get the gist .... great explanation comparing to credit card transactions

 

Video link -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5ojbEIX8Nw

"Renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs tore into Donald Trump’s latest tariff threats, branding them “Mickey Mouse economics” and accusing the former president of unleashing chaos on global markets.

In a scathing take down, Sachs said Trump’s trade logic was so flawed that “he wouldn’t pass a basic econ class,” slamming the former president’s obsession with trade deficits as “childish and dangerous.” Sachs blamed Trump’s economic policies for triggering a $10 trillion loss in global wealth, warning that the U.S. is now flirting with authoritarianism under “one-man rule by emergency decree.”

Dismissing Trump’s talk of foreign nations “cheating” the U.S., Sachs countered: “It’s not a trade issue—it’s a spending problem.” The blistering critique comes amid rising fears that Trump’s return to power could reignite economic instability worldwide."

Economic blackout day today, first of several planned

WHEN:

Thursday February 27th from Midnight till Friday The 28th Midnight 

(A full 24 hours of the 28th)  12:00 AM to 12:00 AM

WHAT NOT TO DO:

Do not make any purchases

Do not shop online, or in-store

No Amazon, No Walmart, No Best Buy

Nowhere!

Do not spend money on:

Fast Food

Gas

Major Retailers

Do not use Credit or Debit Cards for non essential spending

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Only buy essentials of absolutely necessary 

(Food, Medicine, Emergency Supplies)

If you must spend, ONLY support small, local businesses.

SPREAD THE MESSAGE

Talk about it, post about it, and document your actions that day!

WHY THIS MATTERS!

~ Corporations and banks only care about their bottom line.

~ If we disrupt the economy for just ONE day, it sends a powerful message.

~ If they don't listen (they wont) we make the next blackout longer (We will)

Go directly to the organizer's web age ->  https://thepeoplesunionusa.com/

Economic blackout day today, first of several planned

How much is $38T? Yes, T = trillion. That's a big number and we talk about it in this episode of Making Sense of Climate (audio)

FM #1195 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1195 in the series. 

This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Ted McIntyre, Franklin resident and climate activist. We met to record in the Franklin TV & Public Radio studio on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.  

We continued making sense of climate by working through a listing of article links accumulated since we had last talked. The links are included in one PDF shared below.

This discussion continues our journey understanding the MA roadmap toward net zero and while it helps me “make sense of climate”, we hope it helps with your understanding as well. 

If you have climate questions or Franklin specific climate questions, send them in and we’ll try to answer them in a future session.  

The conversation runs about 44 minutes. Let’s listen to my conversation with Ted. Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1195-making-sense-of-climate-43-04-30-24

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** See the page that collects all the “Making Sense of Climate” episodes -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/02/making-sense-of-climate-collection.html 

Links for our discussion in one PDF doc -> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GNwjgXLcm3N3nmkjgApehEq0nITcRvz-/view?usp=drive_link

--------------

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

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

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

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!

------------------

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

How much is $38T? Yes, T = trillion. That's a big number and we talk about it in this episode of Making Sense of Climate (audio)

UN Report: "Our world is in a state of fracture – the social contract is broken"

Local Return (@LocalReturnRI) tweeted Thu, Jan 26, 2023:

"There is perhaps no stronger evidence of the pressing need to redesign our global system than the fact that a global health crisis doubled the wealth of the 10 richest men in the world while sending upwards of 120 million people into extreme poverty."

Shared from Twitter -> https://twitter.com/LocalReturnRI/status/1618665173698629632

Direct link to the full or overview of the report ->

https://www.unrisd.org/en/library/publications/crises-of-inequality

UN Report: "Our world is in a state of fracture – the social contract is broken"

  

Episode 513 of Freakonomics Radio asks a good question: "Should Public Transit Be Free?"

Episode 513 of Freakonomics Radio asks a good question: "Should Public Transit Be Free?" 

The episode byline reads "It boosts economic opportunity and social mobility. It’s good for the environment. So why do we charge people to use it? The short answer: it’s complicated."

Listen to the full episode here ->  https://freakonomics.com/podcast/should-public-transit-be-free/

CommonWealth Magazine has coverage of this episode here (Boston Mayor Michelle Wu participates in this episode)  -> https://commonwealthmagazine.org/the-download/a-freakanomics-debate-about-free-fares-2/  

Episode 513 of Freakonomics Radio asks a good question: "Should Public Transit Be Free?" 

Washington Post: "Five charts explaining why inflation is at a 40-year high"

"The bumpy economic recovery has had policymakers, economists and Americans households grappling with greater price hikes for groceries, cars, rent and other essentials.

The latest inflation data, released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, showed that prices in March climbed 8.5 percent compared with the year before, the highest measure in over 40 years.

The Federal Reserve has launched a major series of interest rate increases to get inflation under control, penciling in seven hikes by the end of the year. But it’s unclear how quickly that action will be able to bring down the rising cost of living, or if the Fed will be spurred to even more aggressive action that risks thrusting the economy into a recession

Persistent supply chain backlogs and high consumer demand for goods have kept prices elevated. And more recently, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has strained global energy markets and triggered higher gasoline prices. There is no clear answer for when that will change, leaving Americans to feel the strain in their pocketbooks in the meantime. This is a breakdown of how we got here."

Continue reading the article (subscription may be required)   https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/inflation-charts/ 

"Five charts explaining why inflation is at a 40-year high"

Boston Globe: "The long, slow return of the Mass. job market"

"The state’s economic recovery from the COVID shock of 2020 is nearly complete, with one important exception: the job market.

The Massachusetts economy — the value of goods and services produced — is bigger now than it was before the pandemic. Personal incomes are higher and so are retail sales.

Most key measures of employment, however, have not returned to their February 2020 marks, and the gains since the bottom of the recession have lagged behind the national average.

But data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics offers some encouragement. Employment growth is continuing to rebound, albeit at a modest pace, from the summer setback caused by the Delta variant. More people are joining the workforce. The worker shortage persists but is easing."

Continue reading the article online. (Subscription maybe required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/11/19/business/states-tight-labor-market-continues-ease-hiring-speeds-up/

Massachusetts employers are finding it easier to hire workers.JENNY KORNREICH

Inside the job market on Labor Day 2021

"A mystery sits at the heart of the economic recovery: There are 10 million job openings, yet more than 8.4 million unemployed are still actively looking for work.

The job market looks, in some ways, like a boom-time situation. Business owners complain they can’t find enough workers, pay is rising rapidly, and customers are greeted with “please be patient, we’re short-staffed” signs at many stores and restaurants.

But the nation remains in the midst of a deadly pandemic with covid-19 hospitalizations back at their highest rates since January. The surge is weighing on the labor market again, with a mere 235,000 jobs added in August. There are still 5 million fewer jobs compared to before the pandemic, reflecting ongoing problems, including child care as some schools and day cares shut down again from outbreaks.

..... 

At heart, there is a massive reallocation underway in the economy that’s triggering a “Great Reassessment” of work in America from both the employer and employee perspectives. Workers are shifting where they want to work — and how. For some, this is a personal choice. The pandemic and all of the anxieties, lockdowns and time at home have changed people. Some want to work remotely forever. Others want to spend more time with family. And others want a more flexible or more meaningful career path. It’s the “you only live once” mentality on steroids. Meanwhile, companies are beefing up automation and redoing entire supply chains and office setups."

Continue reading the article online. (Subscription maybe required) 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/09/04/ten-million-job-openings-labor-shortage/

job openings exceed the number of unemployed

"the end of the federal unemployment benefits may not lead to a huge surge in employment"

"MORE THAN 300,000 Massachusetts residents will lose federal unemployment insurance benefits at the end of this week, and no one is sure what that will mean for them or the state.

The federal government is pulling the plug on the benefits, which include an extra $300 a week, extra weeks, and a special program for gig workers and the self-employed. The end of the programs means the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars of income for the 300,000 Massachusetts residents and the state’s economy."

Continue reading the article online

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/economy/reckoning-coming-as-fed-unemployment-benefits-ending

 

"the end of the federal unemployment benefits may not lead to a huge surge in employment"

The Washington Post: "How the pandemic set back women’s progress in the global workforce"

"The first year of the pandemic knocked 54 million women around the world out of work, widening the gender gap in employment. It could take years for that gap to narrow again. 

Of the women who lost jobs in 2020, almost 90 percent exited the labor force completely, compared with around 70 percent of men. 

How did this happen? Country-level data offers clues. The Washington Post analyzed available data and focused on three countries that offered revealing case studies: Peru, Thailand and France."

Continue reading the article online. (Subscription maybe required) 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2021/coronavirus-women-work?itid=hp_orw-hp-2021

Found via Twitter:  https://t.co/oElQCSG1wO

Huapaya worked during the early months of the pandemic at a restaurant, where she cut her hand on a bottle. She now works as a house cleaner twice a month and as a nanny for another family and sells meals on Sundays. (Daniela Rivera Antara for The Washington Post)

Washington Post: "Booming business at dollar stores"

"A growing number of Americans are relying on dollar stores for everyday needs, especially groceries, as the coronavirus pandemic drags into its 18th month. Chains such as Dollar General and Dollar Tree are reporting blockbuster sales and profits, and proliferating so quickly that some U.S. cities want to limit their growth. The 1,650 dollar stores expected to open this year represent nearly half of all new national retail openings, according to Coresight Research.

Foot traffic at the largest such chain, Dollar General, is up 32 percent from pre-pandemic levels, far outpacing the 3 percent increase at Walmart, one of the few retail winners of last year, according to Placer.ai, which analyzes shopping patterns using location data from 30 million devices."

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/08/20/growing-number-americans-are-relying-dollar-stores/

A shopper pushes a cart through Family Dollar in Chicago. (Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News)

"Consumer spending is almost 70 percent of the economy. What Americans buy determines their standard of living"

"Travel agent Dottie Williford’s phone won’t stop buzzing: Her high-end clients in Raleigh, N.C., are eager to explore the world again. She stayed up until midnight recently to book two $20,000 cabins on a luxury cruise to the Bahamas in July. The high-end cruise ship normally sails the Mediterranean but was brought back to the Bahamas as Americans feel safer traveling closer to home. Tickets sold out by 9 a.m.

“People don’t usually spend $20,000 to go to the Bahamas, but my clients are,” Williford said. “The first things to sell out were the top category on the ship.”

The luxury travel boom is one of the clearest signs of a budding spending surge by wealthy Americans that is likely to tilt the balance of the economy even further toward the well-off and may deepen economic disparities already heightened by the global pandemic."

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/06/18/luxury-boom-recovery/

"Consumer spending is almost 70 percent of the economy. What Americans buy determines their standard of living"

“Putting Humpty Dumpty back together again is a monumental task”

"About 8 million fewer people are working in the United States than before the pandemic hit and there are about 8 million job openings. That would seem to align perfectly for a booming and fast-healing labor market as the nation’s reopening accelerates.

It’s proving not nearly that simple.

“We have job fairs. We have ads going on everything from social media to Indeed, to the Globe and the Cape Cod Times. We’re not getting responses,” said DeWitt Davenport, chief executive of the Davenport Companies in South Yarmouth, which has had to scramble to hire housekeepers and other workers for its five Cape resorts. “This is something I’ve never seen in my entire life of 40 plus years of the hospitality industry on Cape Cod.”

COVID hit the economy last year like a category 5 hurricane, blasting away more than 22 million jobs, upending entire industries, and exposing deep inequities in pay and working conditions. The upheaval is dramatically reshaping the jobs market, leading many Americans, especially in the low-wage restaurant sector, to reconsider their careers, while causing government officials to reassess their policies and business owners to redouble their efforts to lure workers as pandemic restrictions disappear."

Continue reading the article online  (subscription may be required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/05/15/nation/why-reassembling-shattered-jobs-market-is-proving-so-difficult/

New York Times: “It’s very clear our economy is still in trouble”

"The American economic recovery showed new signs of stalling on Friday as government data underscored the pandemic’s brutal damage to the job market.

U.S. employers added 49,000 jobs in January, the Labor Department said, dashing hopes that the new year would bring immediate relief. The private sector added just 6,000 jobs, barely enough to register against the millions of positions lost during the pandemic.

The weak showing was tallied amid a fresh effort in Washington to provide a big infusion of aid to foster a recovery and the data will almost certainly bolster the Democrats’ argument for a robust stimulus package."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/02/05/business/stock-market-today/the-us-economy-added-49000-jobs-in-january-a-weak-showing-after-a-virus-surge

New York Times: “It’s very clear our economy is still in trouble”

New York Times: "2020: The Year in Sports When Everybody Lost"

The New York Times article is highly interactive but the research on professional sports is detailed. One could easily translate the impact from Wisconsin to Massachusetts. While the Red Sox, Patriots and others are and/or were playing, the economic impact is staggering beyond the field/court/rink.

"In 2020, the sports industry in North America was projected to generate $75.7 billion, according to PwC, the accounting firm. Instead, it lost more than a third of its value as leagues suspended play before returning with stripped-down seasons.

Television ratings have tumbled for many top sporting events, and advertising, printing and revenue streams connected to the sports business, like concessions, have practically vanished.

While the coming vaccine in the United States raises hope that fans will be able to return to stadiums by late spring or early summer, the spread of the virus this winter will only deepen an already cratered sports economy. The modern sports industry has never faced such a prolonged, devastating interruption, and it is premature to gauge when sports will return fully to their pre-pandemic state, or if they ever will."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/13/sports/coronavirus-sports-economy-wisconsin.html

CommonWealth Magazine: child care “holding our economy hostage”

From CommonWealth Magazine we share two articles of interest for Franklin:

"CHILD CARE’S CRITICAL importance to our economy was obvious as the COVID-19 pandemic spread throughout the Commonwealth. Some parents scrambled to work remotely while caring for children. Others rushed to secure care so they could perform essential work, much of it on the frontlines to ensure the health and well-being of Massachusetts residents. 

But even as the pandemic revealed the essential nature of child care, it’s also made it more vulnerable than ever. Lawmakers are entering a critical moment for the early education and care sector as they debate the 2021 fiscal year budget. And the pandemic may be coloring perceptions about the demand for child care that could hurt children and families in the long run. 

The fact is that the child care supply has dwindled in Massachusetts during the pandemic as providers closed in the face of fiscal challenges or limited enrollment to accommodate new safety protocols. The Department of Early Education and Care recently reported that enrollment is at 66 percent of pre-COVID numbers. This sharp drop includes parents who have chosen not to send their children or who now need very different arrangements than they did prior to the pandemic. As lawmakers account for these changes in the upcoming budget, do the current COVID-related trends signal decreased demand and justify a reduction in investments to stabilize and secure the sector? 

The simple answer? No. "

Continue reading the article online

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/education/state-leaders-must-invest-in-child-care/ 

"IF THERE WAS ever any doubt that the state’s system of early education and care for very young children was on the brink of crisis with far-reaching consequences, the COVID-19 pandemic has erased it. Congresswoman Katherine Clark, whose bill to  invest $50 billion in the sector was passed by the House of Representatives in July,  recently said that a COVID-19-related lack of access to child care was “holding our economy hostage.” 

Her observation is borne out by testimony collected in September by the state’s Commission on the Status of Women. Nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of women reported that COVID-19-related changes to child care arrangements had affected their ability to work. Included in this group were early care and education business owners themselves, who explained that if their own children could not attend school then they could not keep their businesses open. One reported that she was on the verge of losing her child care center, which had been serving her community for 17 years. 

Solutions such as Congresswoman Clark’s bill, which treats child care and early education programs as an essential public good requiring public investment, are key to ensuring that the sector doesn’t collapse under the weight of urgent needs from young families and their employers. Given the complex problems facing the field and early educators’ expertise and innovative approaches to problems of practice, it’s also important to center early educators in the policy making process."

Continue reading the article online

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/education/crisis-in-early-education-and-care-demands-action/

The report on childcare and the workforce referenced in this article can be found here:  https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.umb.edu/dist/3/4418/files/2020/10/UMass-Boston-EEC-Workforce-Survey-Report-October-2020-Final-Updated.pdf

Boston Globe: Norfolk County ranked as a healthy community by US News & World Report

From the Boston Globe, an article of interest for Franklin:

"Call Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket home? US News & World Report just ranked these two island communities the healthiest in the state.

In its third annual “500 Healthiest Communities” rankings, US News listed three Massachusetts counties in the top 100, taking into account economic, educational, and environmental factors, as well as other social determinants of health.

Dukes County, which represents six towns on Martha’s Vineyard and one on the Elizabeth Islands, was ranked 39th, followed by Nantucket County, which placed 62d. A little further down the list was Norfolk County, ranked 75th. The five communities that topped the list were Los Alamos County in New Mexico, Douglas County in Colorado, Falls Church city in Virginia, and Broomfield and Routt counties in Colorado.

.....

Norfolk County, with a much bigger population of 670,850, received an overall score of 75, with population health, education, and economy scoring the highest, and equity scoring the lowest."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/09/22/lifestyle/three-mass-communities-were-ranked-among-healthiest-nation-by-us-news-world-report/