Finance Committee reviews and approves of Capital Budget for FY 2024 (video & audio)

FM #1135 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1135 in the series. 

This session of the radio show shares the Finance Committee meeting held on Wednesday, January 10, 2024. 

8 Finance Committee members participated; 

6 in Chambers (Chair Conley, Riley, Corbosiero, Nagel, Batchelor, Grace ), 

2 participated remotely (Keophannga & Hamilton) 

1 absent (Sansoucy)

Quick recap:

• Discussion on the scope and intent of the deep dive series. Feb 7 next meeting, Mar 6 joint budget subcmte, then really into budget season for FY 2025 with hearings in May, June for Council.

• This is the first capital budget without a holding of the 'free cash' for snow and ice removal. 4.5M is total free cash.

• Consideration for a 'land acquisition fund' possibly to be established

• Technology at the high school is now 10 years old, can't replace them all at once, chipping away at it to stagger the replacements over time.

• Survey to address on quality of life issues, scientific generated survey randomly generated, whole variety of metrics. Often folks are happy but need to divide where there are some opportunities.

• Chief Lynch providing insights on the Police requests, (forgot to add battalion chiefs for Fire had previewed the requests for Fire) Did get all their requests

• DPW, Director Cantoreggi, Water/Sewer superintendent Martin Providing updates on the details of this year's request, equipment has improved over past years, folks like to use good tools, efficiency & safety

• Funds for sewer, water, etc come from the enterprise funds

• Facility did not get all asked for, the reasonable requests were met. We don't have any money for new sidewalks, maintenance yes but not new. $2M for a single mile of sidewalk.

• Motion for approval for the capital improvements plan second, passes via roll call 8-0-1 (absent)

• Motion for transfers per policy as part of the capital plan, second, via roll call 8-0-1 (absent)

The meeting recording runs about an hour & 20 minutes, so let’s listen to the Finance Committee meeting Jan 10, 20234 Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1135-franklin-ma-finance-cmte-mtg-01-10-24

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Agenda ->   https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/agendas/_2024-01-10_finance_committee_agenda_.pdf 

Watch the Franklin TV video available for replay 

https://www.youtube.com/live/dGC2rKWkWB8 

My notes captured via Twitter during the meeting and found in 1 PDF -> 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qqA7h0dGjT1Bw7f2muY7KTBc7N6OklZq/view?usp=drive_link 

Link to Finance Committee => https://www.franklinma.gov/finance-committee 

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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

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"

Finance Committee reviews and approves of Capital Budget for FY 2024 (video & audio)

Finance Committee gets first look at Capital Budget requests for FY 2024

The Town Administrator memo to the Finance Committee outlining the proposed first pass of the Capital Budget summarizes:

Please find the attached Capital Plan Round 1 for Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24), as well as the five-year capital plan from each department as required by the Town Charter. Included in this memo is a chart with the 20-year free cash history. The average free cash balance is $3.52 million over the past ten years and $2.89 million over the past 20 years.

From the certified total, there are several policy commitments that eat into the total right off the bat, most notably contributions to stabilization accounts (per town policy). Please note that snow and ice removal is now fully funded in the operating budget and there is no reason to “hold” any free cash for snow and ice removal. See narrative below for more specifics.

These recommendations are the FY24 Capital program Round 1. A second round will be later this Spring.

The following is an overview of certified free cash status for FY24:

Find the full memo in the agenda doc (also contains remote participation info) ->

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/uploads/_2024-01-05_memo_fy24_capital_program_fin_comm.pdf

Finance Committee gets first look at Capital Budget requests for FY 2024

Meeting outlook for the week beginning Jan 8, 2024

Monday, January 8, 2024 - 6:00pm

• Franklin Public Schools Community Relations Subcommittee Meeting

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/events/fps_community_relations_sub_committee_agenda.pdf

Tuesday, January 9, 2024 - 5:30pm

• Franklin Public Schools Budget Sub Committee Meeting

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/events/fps_budget_sub_comm.pdf

Tuesday, January 9, 2024 - 6:00pm

• School Committee MASC Workshop Agenda

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/events/school_committee_masc.pdf

Tuesday, January 9, 2024 - 7:00pm

• School Committee Meeting

https://www.franklinps.net/sites/g/files/vyhlif4431/f/uploads/scagenda_1-9-24.pdf

Wednesday, January 10, 2024 - 5:15pm

• CSFC Subcommittee

no agenda posted at this time Agenda posted 1/8/24

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/agendas/csfc_subcommittee_agenda_-_january_10th_2024.pdf

Wednesday, January 10, 2024 - 6:30pm

• Master Plan Committee

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/agendas/master_plan_agenda_-january_10_2024.pdf

Wednesday, January 10, 2024 - 7:00pm

• Finance Committee Meeting

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/agendas/_2024-01-10_finance_committee_agenda_.pdf

Meeting outlook for the week beginning Jan 8, 2024

Finance Committee takes a 'deep dive' (sorta) into the Faculties budget (audio)

FM #1116 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1116 in the series. 

This session of the radio show shares the Finance Committee meeting held on Wednesday, December 13, 2023. 

They met as scheduled to get an update on the State revenue forecast, take a “deep dive” into the Facilities budget, and get an update on grants for Town and School over the past 10 years.  

6 Finance Committee members participated; 4 in Chambers (Chair Conley, Hamilton, Riley & Nagel), 2 participated remotely (Keophannga & Sansoucy)

Quick recap:

• State revenue forecast for FY 2024 not meeting expectation, no cuts yet per Governor, does likely mean less revenue for next years budget although local aid is usually one of the last to get affected, something to stay tuned into

• Budget hearings for May 2024 were confirmed as May 6 for General Government, May 8 for Public safety (Police, Fire, & Dispatch) and DPW (water, sewer, storm water) and Schools on May 15. Proposed meeting calendar to be updated with this decision

• Deep dive into Facilities

• Discussion on the list of facilities provided, yes it is facilities not just the buildings

• Extended discussion on the Upper Union St solar farm which we don't own but for which we own the electrical output and which leads to credits on the Town electrical bill that are used for multiple other electrical improvements, upgrades

• This turned into a discussion on the heating efficiencies of some buildings; FHS for example was built with better insulation and the walls are R40, vs. the 3 middle school complex buildings are rated R19. This means the heating cots for those buildings are higher due to the less efficient (i.e. insulation factors)

• While mentioned in passing that the Master Plan Committee has a subcommittee on facilities, and the Schools are working on their long range comprehensive facilities plan, there were no further details added at this time. Members of the School Committee and Central office were present but did not get to provide any additional info

• The 10 year projection of expenses across the buildings was split evenly between Town and School per Chair Conley. It was not discussed how these expenses would be funded. It was mentioned that the Facilities budget is the first to get hit when a budget shortfall is needed to be adjusted for. Projects get postponed until funding is available (hence the listing of projects that exists, some of which have been awaiting for some time)

• Discussion on the 10 year report of grants received by the Town and Schools. These made for interesting reading although some of them are not purely "grants" (i.e. the cable access fees are included, they are present due to the accounting for them). One quick take away from the grant report is that the Town has been quite successful over time in obtaining grants and while they will continue to do so, the grant amounts are not sufficient to really make an impact on either the Town or School budget. Averaging approximately 4 million (combined Town & School) on a $150M budget is respectfully valuable but “small change”

The meeting recording runs about an hour & 20 minutes, so let’s listen to the Finance Committee meeting Dec 13, 2023. Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1116-franklin-ma-finance-cmte-mtg-12-13-23

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

Agenda ->   https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/agendas/dec_13_2023_fin_com_agenda.pdf 

Watch the Franklin TV video available for replay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4WDEAYIeJU 

Public Property & Building, aka “the Facilities Department”

i. FY24 Public Property & Buildings Budget  

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/uploads/fy24_public_property_buildings_budget.pdf 

ii. List of Town Owned Buildings  

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/uploads/list_of_town_owned_buildings_0.pdf 

iii. December 2020 Kaestle Boos study on school facilities current conditions  

https://www.franklinps.net/sites/g/files/vyhlif4431/f/uploads/franklin_comprehensive_facilities_assessment_-_final_updated_12.1.2020_1.pdf 

iv. Franklin School Department Redistricting Analysis 

https://www.franklinps.net/district/redistricting-analysis 

v. Comprehensive School Facilities Planning Subcommittee  

https://www.franklinps.net/district/school-committee/pages/subcommittees-and-liaisons 

vi. 10-year Capital Facilities Plan    

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/uploads/5a._vi_-_facilities_capital_improvement_plan_fy23.12.07.23.xlsx_-_10_year_plan.pdf 

b. Grants discussion

i. Ten-year municipal grants history  

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/uploads/5b._i_-_grant_reporting_project_for_fincom_-_town.pdf 

ii. Ten-year school grants history  

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/uploads/5b._ii_-_grant_reporting_project_for_fincom_-_school.pdf 

My notes captured via Twitter during the meeting and found in 1 PDF -> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Vn59WoX94X8yvI0CFWCqw1X6A9m5ePjd/view?usp=drive_link 

Link to Finance Committee => https://www.franklinma.gov/finance-committee 

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

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 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"

Franklin, MA: Finance Committee - Agenda for meeting Dec 13, 2023

Finance Committee takes a 'deep dive' (sorta) into the Faculties budget (video)

The Finance Committee met as scheduled on Wednesday, Dec 13, 2023. The Franklin TV video is available for replay -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4WDEAYIeJU

6 members participated, 4 in Chambers (Chair Conley, Hamilton, Riley & Nagel), 2 participated remotely (Keophannga & Sansoucy)

Quick recap:

• State revenue forecast for FY 2024 not meeting expectation, no cuts yet per Governor, does likely mean less revenue for next years budget although local aid is usually one of the last to get affected, something to stay tuned into
• Budget hearings for May 2024 were confirmed as May 6 for General Government, May 8 for Public safety (Police, Fire, & Dispatch) and DPW (water, sewer, storm water) and Schools on May 15. Proposed meeting calendar to be updated with this decision
• Discussion on the list of facilities provided, yes it is facilities not just the buildings
• Extended discussion on the solar farm which we don't own but for which we own the electrical output and which leads to credits on the Town electrical bill that are used for multiple other electrical improvements, upgrades
• This turned into a discussion on the heating efficiencies of some buildings; FHS for example was built with better insulation and the walls are R40, vs. the 3 middle school complex buildings are rated R19. This means the heating cots for those buildings are higher due to the less efficient (i.e. insulation factors)
• While mentioned in passing that the Master Plan Committee has a subcommittee on facilities, and the Schools are working on their long range comprehensive facilities plan, there was not further details added at this time. Members of the School Committee and Central office were present but did not get to provide any additional info
• The 10 year projection of expenses across the buildings was split evenly between Town and School per Chair Conley. It was not discussed how these expenses would be funded. It was mentioned that the Facilities budget is the first to get hit when a budget shortfall is needed to be adjusted for. Projects get postponed until funding is available (hence the listing of projects that exists, some of which have been awaiting for some time)
• Discussion on the 10 year report of grants received by the Town and Schools. These made for interesting reading although some of them are not purely "grants" (i.e. the cable access fees are included, they are present due to the accounting for them). One quick takeaway from the grant report is that the Town has been quite successful over time in obtaining grants and while they will continue to do so, the grant amounts are not sufficient to really make on impact on either the Town or School budget. Averaging approximately 4 million (combined Town & School) on a $150M budget is small change

My notes captured via Twitter during the meeting:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Vn59WoX94X8yvI0CFWCqw1X6A9m5ePjd/view?usp=drive_link

Franklin, MA: Finance Committee - Agenda for meeting Dec 13, 2023

Finance Committee meeting is THE meeting to be on Wednesday, Dec 13

If you really want to know Franklin, then Wednesday night at 7 PM, the Finance Committee meeting is THE meeting to watch, listen to (or catch on replay), or read about after.

With all due respect to the Master Plan Update Committee meeting also about the same time (they start at 6:30), they are early in their process so the more important of the two (in my view) is the Finance Committee "Bill Dowd deep dive" on Facilities.

The agenda doc provides plenty of information about the facilities department and about the recent history of how grants have been able to augment the Town and School budgets with about 2M each per year. (Yes, the data does show an increase since 2020 but most of that is the Federal ARPA, ESSAR funding, and not likely to continue at that rate).

For your reading pleasure in advance of the meeting:

5. The Bill Dowd “Deep Dive” Series

a. Public Property & Building, aka “the Facilities Department”

i. FY24 Public Property & Buildings Budget  

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/uploads/fy24_public_property_buildings_budget.pdf

ii. List of Town Owned Buildings  

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/uploads/list_of_town_owned_buildings_0.pdf

iii. December 2020 Kaestle Boos study on school facilities current conditions  

https://www.franklinps.net/sites/g/files/vyhlif4431/f/uploads/franklin_comprehensive_facilities_assessment_-_final_updated_12.1.2020_1.pdf

iv. Franklin School Department Redistricting Analysis 

https://www.franklinps.net/district/redistricting-analysis

v. Comprehensive School Facilities Planning Subcommittee  

https://www.franklinps.net/district/school-committee/pages/subcommittees-and-liaisons

vi. 10-year Capital Facilities Plan  

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/uploads/5a._vi_-_facilities_capital_improvement_plan_fy23.12.07.23.xlsx_-_10_year_plan.pdf

b. Grants discussion

i. Ten-year municipal grants history  

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/uploads/5b._i_-_grant_reporting_project_for_fincom_-_town.pdf

ii. Ten-year school grants history  

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/uploads/5b._ii_-_grant_reporting_project_for_fincom_-_school.pdf

The agenda doc includes supporting materials and covers 38 pages (also includes remote participation info)   https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/agendas/dec_13_2023_fin_com_agenda.pdf

Franklin, MA: Finance Committee - Agenda for meeting Dec 13, 2023