Showing posts with label joint budget. Show all posts
Showing posts with label joint budget. Show all posts

Sunday, March 23, 2025

Franklin Town Council sets June 3 for date of Override vote on $3,862,672 to balance FY 2026 budget (audio)

FM #1412  This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1412 in the series. 


This session shares the Franklin (MA) Town Council Meeting of Wednesday, March 19, 2025. 8 of the 9 of the members participated in Council Chambers (1 absent - Dellorco).  


Quick recap:

  • after approval of 2 prior meeting minutes, the Council get to the key item and after a brief discussion took two votes; 

    • one to approve the amount and ballot question text 

    • the second to set the date, Tuesday, June 3, 2025 for the override

    • both votes were 8-0-1 (1 absent)

  • The School Committee had met earlier that evening and voted unanimously to support the override vote. Chair Dave Callaghan and Vice-Chair David McNeill stood up to make that announcement during the discussion

  • Other legislation for action on the minimum item agenda for the evening; 2 items to extend the sewer and water lines to a new residence that had already been approved in the first vote both received the passing vote by the same 8-0-1 vote (1 absent) via roll call

  • A resolution accepting gifts to the Veterans services was approved and thanks extended

  • Town Administrator's Report

    • Jamie acknowledged receipt of a letter from Archbishop Henning commending the work of the Fire Dept on the St Mary's Church fire. He had just recently attended the re-opening masses. The letter will be posted to the Town pages

    • The lease for Town use of the Ferrara's parking lot was signed to extend the agreement for 5 years

    • The final approvals on the deed and associated documents for the Old South Church were completed and to be handed over to Habitat for Humanity so the docs can be filed with the Registrar of Deeds, and work can begin to renovate the building for a residence

  • After a round of Councilor comments, the meeting closed


Let’s listen to the meeting recording which runs about 1 hour and 38 minutes.  Audio link -https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1412-town-council-mtg-03-19-25/


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


The agenda doc released for the meeting ->    https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03192025-1639 


My full set of notes taken during the meeting (in one PDF) -> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TPEkxHcViPCNwOGHmiydPVt1rGW5Xy05/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

  • 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"


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

Saturday, March 22, 2025

Watch, Listen, Read: The 6th Joint Budget Listening Session - Wednesday, March 19

This combines the video, audio, and transcript for the 6th of the 6 listenting sessions in advance of the possible override decision/discussion for the FY 2026 budget.

This is the sixth of 6 listening sessions scheduled through March 12, 2025 in advance of a decision on an override (yes, or no), when? and for what amount. The decision discussion is committed to be on the agenda for the March 19 Town Council meeting.

** Watch




** Listen


** Read 
Transcript prepared by Otter.ai and edited for speaker name accuracy. As the audio time stamp is also included you can synch the transcript to either the video or audio to catch the full spoken word.  PDF -> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CHnwgdsqQ-HtVC0RC_bgGQy2vUz34mdX/view?usp=drive_link


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You can find the collection of video, audio, and transcripts for ALL the Listening Sessions here ->  https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/02/joint-budget-listening-sessions-fy-2026.html 


Joint Budget Subcommittee recommends to the Town Council a $3.862 M override for Tuesday, June 3 (video)
Joint Budget Subcommittee recommends to the Town Council a $3.862 M override for Tuesday, June 3

Fiscal Year 2026 Override Information for Franklin, MA

"On March 19, 2025, the Town Council voted to adopt recommendations from the Joint Budget Subcommittee (JBSC) that the Town Council vote put forth a $3,862,672 override ballot question to the registered voters of the Town of Franklin at a Special Local Election on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. 
For details and additional information concerning this matter, please visit the FY26 Budget Override webpage."

FY 2026 Budget Overrride page -> https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/1089/Fiscal-Year-2026-Override-Information

The timeline reflects on what has happened in the Joint Budget process. I would emphasize that the critical meetings are actually scheduled before the vote June 3.

Detailed questions and answers can be found with 

(1) the Finance Committee budget hearings over three days: Apr 28, Apr 29, and May 1

(2) the Town Council budget hearings scheduled for May 21 and May 22.

The official Town budget comes out in April and will be the source of the detailed discussion reviewed during the budget hearings. There really should be no questions unanswered by the time June 3 arrives.

Fiscal Year 2026 Override Information for Franklin, MA
Fiscal Year 2026 Override Information for Franklin, MA

Sunday, March 16, 2025

Proposition 2 ½ Override Ballot Question for FY 2026 Town & School budget

March 14, 2025

To: Town Council

From:  Jamie Hellen, Town Administrator
Amy Frigulietti, Deputy Town Administrator

Re: Resolution 25-15: Proposition 2 ½ Override Ballot Question Resolution 25-16: Setting Date of Proposition 2 ½ Override Ballot

Before the Council this evening are two resolutions relative to an override. The first resolution establishes the date of a special override election. The second establishes the exact question that will be on the ballot.

Beginning in January, the Joint Budget Subcommittee (JBSC), consisting of four members of Town Council, three members of the School Committee, and four members of the Finance Committee, along with the Town Administrator and Superintendent, held a series of six public listening sessions in various locations across town. The objective of these sessions was to give residents multiple opportunities to share opinions, ask questions and gain a better understanding of how the Town’s budget deficit will impact Town services, School services and resident taxes in FY26 and beyond, both with and without an override. The response to these sessions was overwhelmingly positive with many new and familiar faces in attendance and a tremendous amount of valuable information shared. We truly appreciate the questions and feedback and hope this community engagement continues to grow!

At the final JBSC listening session on March 12th, the Committee voted, 9-1 (with one member absent) to recommend the following:
1) That the Town Council vote to put forth a $3,862,672 override ballot question to the registered voters of the Town of Franklin with the following ballot question language - "Shall the Town of Franklin be allowed to assess an additional $3,862,672 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purpose of the municipal and school operating budgets for which monies from this assessment will be used for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025". 
2) That the Town Council vote to place the proposed override ballot question before the residents for a vote at a Special Town Election on Tuesday, June 3, 2025.

For more information please visit the FY26 Budget page on our website. Assuming the Town Council approves a ballot question and date for the special election, the Town will upload a dedicated override website with legally allowable information.

Please let us know if you have any questions.


Proposition 2 ½ Override Ballot Question for FY 2026 Town & School budget
Proposition 2 ½ Override Ballot Question for FY 2026 Town & School budget

Friday, March 14, 2025

Voices of Franklin: Selena Cousin's statement at the Joint Budget Listening Session - Mar 12, 2025

My name is Selena Cousin and I have lived in Franklin for over two decades. Moving to Franklin to raise my family was definitely one of the best decisions I've ever made. I love our town and the wonderful people who live (and teach!) here. That said, lately I feel like Franklin has become A Tale of Two Cities. Just like in the classic work by Charles Dickens, "It was the best of times—it was the worst of times." It really just depends on our perspective and what we as a town value and support. 

Tonight I'd like to focus our attention on the stability and continuity of town leadership over the past two decades from two different angles.

First, let's look at things from the municipal side. Since moving here in 2002, Franklin has had only 2 town administrators—Jeff Nutting served here for 18 years, and before his retirement he and the town council had the foresight to hire and train his successor, and Jamie Hellen has led our town ever since. So for town administrators in the past couple decades we have had a total of 2. That's it. 2. 

This continuity and minimal turnover in town administration has afforded us the opportunity to benefit from having many experienced departmental directors who have also stayed here in Franklin for long periods of time. Recreation Director Ryan Jette has been in his position for over 25 years, Library Director Felicia Oti has served in Franklin for 20 years, and DPW Director Brutus Cantoreggi has been here for almost 20 years. 

Alternatively, let's switch perspectives and take a look at Franklin Public School district's lack of leadership continuity. Since my family moved here in 2002, we have had 6 superintendents leading our Franklin Public Schools—Richard Warren, Dr. David Crisafulli, Wayne Ogden, Dr. Maureen Sabolinski, Dr. Sara Ahern, and Lucas Giguere.

We have also had many, many assistant superintendents, many, many principals, and many, many assistant principals serve under these 6 superintendents. I will leave the exercise of counting those up for someone else, but just to give you an idea let's consider the 3 schools that my 2 boys have attended since kindergarten. 

In just 11 years at Kennedy, my boys had 4 principals and 6 assistant principals. That is a mind-boggling amount of turnover in a very short time. 

For middle school at Horace Mann, over the past 7 years my boys have had only 1 principal (thank you Beckie Mottie!) but no less than 6 assistant principals.

Perhaps most glaringly, at Franklin High School (FHS), so far my older son has had 3 different high school principals in 4 years and an ever changing assortment of assistant principals. 

If we look back over the full 2 decades, there have been another 4 FHS principals for a total of 7 FHS principals and even more assistant principals. 7 principals in 20 years—think about that for a minute—that means most of our FHS principals weren't even at FHS long enough to see a single cohort of freshmen graduate as seniors!!! 

Meanwhile, this is only a snapshot of 3 of our 11 schools in Franklin over the past 2 decades. If we extrapolate the amount of leadership instability and turnover district wide, the numbers are indeed alarming.

It comes as no surprise that with a revolving door of educational leadership at the superintendent, assistant superintendent, principal, and assistant principal levels, we are also plagued in Franklin by a revolving door of teachers, which is particularly noticeable at the middle and high school levels.

So how does continuity of staffing (or lack thereof!) affect us all here in Franklin?

Clearly, on the municipal side our town has benefitted greatly from having very little turnover in leadership positions. These leadership positions are extremely well funded, with extraordinarily generous pay and substantial annual raises resulting in long term staff, continuity, minimal turnover, and the ability to plan effectively and even envision new ideas.

Accordingly, we have seen phenomenal growth on the municipal side over the past 2 decades. For example, our vision of becoming a cultural district has been realized and we recently funded and hired our town's first arts and culture director. Our recreation department has built new playgrounds, updated bleachers, and added pickleball courts in town. Our renowned public library underwent a major addition and renovation and hired an amazing children's librarian who creates programs and leads activities I only wish we had when my kids were little. 

We built (and later expanded!) our beautiful new 2 story senior center that enjoys a full schedule of activities M-F including a professional chef and transportation. We have built a new state of the art municipal building, and have also already updated it with new technology, carpeting and window treatments. 

We have even hired a full time assistant town administrator to help Jamie meet the ever increasing needs in our community. Undeniably, having well paid municipal professional staff with minimal turnover has allowed for some pretty impressive progress over the past 2 decades. 

And yet, at the other extreme, our schools struggle with a glaring lack of funding which compromises our ability to retain staff and minimizes opportunities for continuity, innovation, and growth in our Franklin Public Schools. Thankfully, in large part to the generosity of the state, we do have a beautiful new high school. However, a school is just a building unless we can afford to hire and retain the teachers and staff needed to fill it. Unlike our town administrator's portfolio, our school leadership does not have the luxury of visioning new ways of improving and enhancing our schools. 

Wouldn't it be great, for example, if we could help make college more affordable for families by offering programs where students can receive college credit and start college with a semester or 2 under their belts? At UMass, for example, starting college as a sophomore would save a student $38,000—at private universities a year of college credits could save upwards of $80,000. 

Unfortunately, as Superintendent Giguere has previously mentioned at school committee meetings, programs like the Early College Program and Dual Enrollment Program require stability and resources and infrastructure —luxuries we just don't have right now at FHS. Instead, we are too busy making cuts, always trying to decide which cuts will be the least noticeable and/or detrimental to the community. 

In fact, some of you may remember way back in 2008, Superintendent Wayne Ogden left his position with 2 years remaining on his contract (and without another job!) because he "couldn't in good faith continue to lead our district." He said, "Restrictive budgets and massive layoffs in the district preclude me from moving the schools 'from good to great.' In the last two budget cycles, I have been forced to reduce school staff by more than 70 employees, the vast majority of them teachers, and to abandon plans to bring our schools to the next level academically. Our investment in the education of our students is now below average in every single category."

Well, here we all are 17 YEARS LATER and we have continued to make devastating, very noticeable cuts in our schools each and every year since. As a result of inadequate budget allocation, we are plagued by a revolving door of educators, and unfortunately, lose too many promising and dynamic teachers to other higher paying, more stable districts. 

We have cut our elementary and middle school foreign language programs despite all of the research that says the younger the better when it comes to learning foreign languages. We have eliminated options like Latin, electives, and AP courses at FHS. 

Our music programs have been hit too many times to count, but when we moved here there were 20 music teachers (and even band in our elementary schools!), and now there are only 7 left and less music opportunities at every level. We have cut our theater director and the entire theater department at FHS. 

We have cut art teachers, the dedicated full time art director position, and the unique and much loved Franklin Arts Academy. We have closed Davis Thayer Elementary School, and in just a few months, Kennedy and Parmenter will join Davis Thayer for a total of 3 buildings no longer used to house neighborhood-based elementary education here in Franklin. By now, it feels like our schools have been forced to cut just about everything unmandated that can legally be cut.

To be extremely blunt, the citizens of Franklin deserve at least the same kind of STABILITY, CONTINUITY, and WEALTH OF RESOURCES in our public schools that we enjoy in our municipal services.  

Franklin, we are now at a critical point and we have some important decisions to make that will affect our town for years to come. Somehow, despite the revolving door of educational leadership in Franklin, we are incredibly fortunate to have an amazing superintendent who started his career here in Franklin over 20 years ago. Lucas Giguere is knowledgeable, experienced, well-liked and respected, caring, visionary, and totally committed to the town of Franklin . He is all in—our superintendent lives in town, pays taxes in town, sends his own kids to Franklin Public Schools, knows the community inside and out, and is fully committed to helping Franklin Public Schools succeed. 

Let's do everything we can to keep this superintendent here as long as we can and let's FINALLY put an end to the revolving door of leadership that severely undermines the potential of our Franklin Public Schools. Let's give our amazing superintendent, his hardworking and talented leadership team, and our incredible teachers the budget needed to *FINALLY* bring our schools from good to great. 

In closing, our public schools deserve the same opportunities for leadership retention and continuity as our municipal government. How can we expect our school leadership to effect positive change and make meaningful connections with teachers, students, and families if they aren't even here long enough to make a difference?  

How can we vision and bring to fruition the newest and most innovative educational programs and activities, if we don't have the money to even fund a level service budget? How can we pay our town administrator one of the highest salaries of any town administrator in the entire state—even higher than mayor of Boston—while we begrudgingly give minimal raises, if any, to our educators. Right now, we are a "good enough" school district, but we have the potential to be great—even one of the very best districts in Massachusetts—if we as a town decide to properly fund our public schools. 

Our students and families and educators deserve better. Let's commit to a significant override and fully funding and supporting our educators and our education programs like we do for municipal town employees and services. Because really, who wants to be known as the town that has great municipal services but deteriorating public schools? 

It's been said that, "Education is our greatest opportunity to give an irrevocable gift to the next generation." (Ernie Fletcher) Let's finally commit to fully funding our Franklin Public Schools and see just how amazing our town, our *ENTIRE* town, can really be.  

Thank you. 
Selena Cousin 

Guidelines for your submission

Voices of Franklin: Listening Session Comment
Voices of Franklin: Listening Session Comment

Voices of Franklin: O'Sullivan - Why I voted 'No' Wednesday night

As a result of the 9-1 vote to recommend the override amount, I was curious as to why the no vote was cast. My email query went to Ruthann and this is her response:

In response to your question about why I voted no at the meeting last night, I really appreciate you following up so that nobody misunderstands my intent. 

To be clear, I am absolutely going to support this $3.9M override should the Town Council move forward. I believe another failed override will devastate our school district beyond repair. 

If not for the tremendous work of Superintendent Giguere and his team redistricting the entire school system, closing down schools, and consolidating resources, our district would be in absolute disarray. 

The reason I voted no, is because I'm concerned about the ability to pass additional overrides in the near future. There is an agreement among the committees in town that small future overrides are going to be necessary. In fact, in the Town Administrator's fiscal forecast, the town could be looking at a deficit as early as 2027. There are some unknown variables, and we can hope this will not be the case. However, this potential creates much angst among not just parents, but the teachers in our district who have endured consistent layoffs for the last decade. 

I am also concerned that if we do need to patch a gap in the town's budget through another override, it will likely be the responsibility of the School Committee and district to request and campaign for this need alone. Historically, when an override election takes place solely for our school district, it has failed. Notably, this is because parents tend to be underrepresented in local elections. 

As stated at the JBSC meeting last night, we have the ability to draft a question for the election that would present more than one option to the residents to vote on. One being level service, and one being "levels service plus" which could include an additional amount that would provide increased stability to the district. Our Superintendent has five new schools to get up and running this fall. And although the basic infrastructure remains the same, each of these five schools have new principals, teaching staff, students, bus routes, schedules, and so on. 

This is a massive undertaking, and parents want to ensure our educators have the support to execute this without unnecessary obstacles. Providing a "stabilization account" so to speak, for the school department and/or the town, would allow our leadership team to stay focused on the tasks at hand, and eliminate concerns around potential disruptions, or unforeseen events that could interfere with a smooth transition. 

I also firmly disagree that our governing body must predict what a "passable" override should be. Instead, I feel that giving the voters a choice would be the more democratic way to propose this question to the town. This idea is not novel, and I do not agree that voters will be too confused, and that confusion could result in a failed override. 

In summary, I am one-hundred percent in support of solving this structural deficit.

I will campaign my heart out, side by side with the One Franklin Committee as they educate our residents around the importance of investing and preserving our amazing community and those that serve it. 

Thanks for reaching out, I'll see you on the campaign trail!

Best,
Ruthann O'Sullivan

Franklin School Committee
Member Joint Budget Sucommittee


Guidelines for your submission

Voices of Franklin: Listening Session
Voices of Franklin: Joint Budget Listening Session

Joint Budget Subcommittee recommends to the Town Council a $3.862 M override for Tuesday, June 3 (audio)

FM #1404 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1404 in the series. 


This session shares the last of the 6 Joint Budget Listening Sessions held Wednesday, March 12, 2025 at the FHS Auditorium. 10 of the 11 members participated along with Town Administrator Jamie Hellen & School Supt Lucas Giguere.


Quick recap:

  • Brief statements by TA Hellen and Supt Giguere opened the session before going to the audience for questions and comments. 

  • Approx 100 folks in the audience this evening, a mix of town staff, school dept and teachers, and residents

  • 10 members of the Joint Budget Subcmte present on the stage along with Town Administrator Jamie Hellen and School Superintendent Lucas Giguere

  • A dozen folks asked questions, some more than 1; some got long answers, some got short answers

  • the Subcommittee gets their say one at a time (beginning approx 9:15 PM), then after hearing the majority for the 3.8 number with some for a pyramid (also adding a higher #, 4.9 possibly)

  • Motion for the $3863,672, seconded and then after discussion it passes by a 9-1 vote (1 voting no, O'Sullivan)

  • Motion for Tuesday, June 3, 2025 as the date, second, passes 10-0

  • motion to adjourn, passes 10-0


The recording runs about 3 hours 20 minutes , so let’s listen in. Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1404-joint-budget-listening-session-6-03-12-25/



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Franklin TV video for viewing -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3yEVAe0NHU 


Meeting agenda doc -> https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/Joint-Budget-Subcommittee-6/?#_03122025-1620


My notes captured during the session  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Afr2hGWcMvzGJX1zd_VojMpjkl9WMTU-/view?usp=drive_link 


Link to the Town page with the budget materials for both Town and School sides

https://www.franklinma.gov/Archive.aspx?ADID=500 


Updated FY 2026 budget document -> https://www.franklinma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/4593/2025-03-05-Town-Council-Preliminary-Budget-Presentation-v2 


Citizen discounts and exemptions -> https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/4418/Local-and-State-Assistance-Programs-PDF 


You can find the collection of video, audio, and transcripts for the prior sessions here ->  https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/02/joint-budget-listening-sessions-fy-2026.html 


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

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"



Joint Budget Subcommittee recommends to the Town Council a $3.862 M override for Tuesday, June 3 (video)
Joint Budget Subcommittee recommends to the Town Council a $3.862 M override for Tuesday, June 3