Showing posts with label revenues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label revenues. Show all posts

Sunday, July 30, 2023

Franklin TV: Streaming – an Observation

Cable Cord-Cutting Continues

by Pete Fasciano, Executive Director 07/30/2023

On July-27 Alan Earls penned an insightful report in The Franklin Observer about cord-cutting and the state’s legislative efforts to ensure the viability of local media studios like Franklin●TV.

As subscribers cancel their cable subscriptions, we see our revenues drop off. Currently, Franklin.TV has seen a 15% drop in revenue over the last 5 years. We also must contend with all the same inflationary costs that everyone faces.

Crafting such legislation is a Solomonic task. The Massachusetts House and Senate have bills currently being considered on Beacon Hill. The “Act to Modernize Funding for Community Media Programming” has a version in the House, H.74. A similar measure, S.34, is moving in the Senate. The bills seek to ensure that streaming services (Netflix, Apple+, Prime, Paramount, et al) meet the same financial obligation to support local media that the cable companies (Comcast, Verizon) currently do.

Per State Rep. Jeff Roy, H. 74, “is a bill that is worth considering as it would bolster accessibility, civic engagement, and transparency of government operations,”. At a time of dwindling newspaper coverage, this legislation would help municipal TV studios to continue covering and broadcasting matters of great interest to citizens. “It would simply replace the current fees on cable companies and requiring streaming services to step up to the plate,” he continued. “I look forward to reviewing the committee’s report on the proposal,” he added.

The City of Chicago successfully enacted similar legislation 5 years ago in an effort to keep pace with changing times and technology.

We applaud the work of the Massachusetts Telecom Committee, the House and Senate and their efforts to timely and reasonably address the needs of local media centers. Without this legislation, smaller communities are at risk of seeing their local PEG media services merge into regional centers (less local) or vanish entirely.

And – as always –
Thank you for listening to wfpr●fm. 
And, thank you for watching.


Get this week's program guide for Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) online  http://franklin.tv/programguide.pdf   

Link to the Observer article mentioned ->

Sunday, March 5, 2023

FY 2024 Budget Narrative for discussion at Joint Budget Subcommittee meeting March 8, 2023 - 7 PM

March 1, 2023

To: Joint Budget Subcommittee 
From: Jamie Hellen, Town Administrator
Re: Preliminary FY24 Budget Model


In anticipation of the March 8th meeting, I have prepared a preliminary FY24 budget model based on the information we have to date. I have also attached the committee charge.

Budget Process Update

I have met with every department and outside entity (MECC, CRPC District, Retirement Board, etc.) that is reflected in the town's budget. I have not included Governor Healey’s H1 budget numbers into the model yet. I do not expect any substantial increases in local aid by July.

Line items will continue to be altered as new information becomes available through mid-April when my budget is released, hopefully just prior to the start of School vacation. The Finance Committee budget hearings are the week of May 8th. Schedules will be established soon, but will mirror previous years with one night for the General Government, one night exclusive to the Schools and one night for Public Safety & DPW. The Town Council budget hearings are scheduled for May 24th and 25th.

Please visit the budget website for the process. (https://www.franklinma.gov/town-budget)

FY24 Preliminary Budget Model

The narrative below is intended to give a flavor of early assumptions based on the budget model. The attached document reflects the department's “wishlist” or optimum budgets for FY24 from each department. The current deficit between expected revenues and budget requests from each department is $5.78 million. With new revenues included, requests are approaching $10 million in one year. Half of this increase is being requested by the Franklin Public Schools at nearly $5 million for level service, as well as some space for capital funds. I remind all readers, this model is preliminary. The assumptions will change and far more data will be provided in the Budget Narrative document. See previous budgets here.
 
Revenue assumptions

New Growth -
The model assumes a $1,000,000 increase in New Growth, which is a responsible assumption. After conferring with the Assessors, a small uptick is possible as the Town enters the building and home improvement spring season.
Please note this assumption is a decrease of nearly $300,000 in lost revenue from FY23. The next 8 weeks are critical to getting a sense of the general home improvement and building conditions in town. I expect a lukewarm market.

Tax Levy -
The anticipated tax levy growth for FY24 over FY23 is $3,181,388, which is calculated based on last fiscal year’s tax levy limit plus 2.5% (maximum allowed by law), combined with a near $300,000 loss in New Growth from FY23.

Local Receipts -
The model assumes an increase of at least $1,000,000 over FY23. It appears that most revenue streams have rebounded since the pandemic years and appear to have greater stability in FY24. As a result, the Town will see some requests for personnel to accommodate for the trends (notably public safety). I have attached the local receipts to date for FY23 through the fiscal year midpoint (12/31/22).

A few other notes:
Ambulance receipts have climbed steadily due to a record breaking amount of ambulance calls.
The cannabis excise local option tax (3%) is on target to bring in approximately
$275,000 in FY23.
Hotel revenues appear to have rebounded back within striking distance of pre-pandemic totals.
Local Receipts are generally a fee-for-service revenue source that includes licenses, alcohol licenses, fees, building fees, ambulance receipts, motor vehicle excise and a variety of other revenues on specific services or state laws that apply by the Town. By contrast, any similar revenue sources for the Franklin Public Schools are retained by the School Department in their revolving funds.
As we do every year, staff evaluate the local receipts trends as of March 31, 2023 and make FY24 budget recommendations based on those trends.

State Aid -
I don't expect a substantial increase in state aid. Governor Healy’s H1 numbers actually show a small loss in aid. As usual, I expect the House & Senate to increase those numbers into a positive, but nothing to make a substantial impact.

Other Revenues
Host Community Cannabis agreements and the Opioid Settlement funds will not be a part of the FY24 budget due to changes in those agreements, state laws and regulations or requirements of those revenues.
Off operating related budget items: Community Preservation Act budget will be forthcoming, as well as an Opioid Settlement budget for FY24.
 
Expenses Assumptions

The following is a summary list of highlights to the preliminary operating expense budget model:

Assumes a 2.5% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for all municipal personnel, including collective bargaining agreement commitments.

The Public Property & Buildings (Facilities) expense budget has the largest expected increase at almost $760,000 increase over FY23. The simple fact is electricity, gas, materials, contractors, water and new stormwater costs are all increasing. This past year saw a near 3-cent/per KwH increase in electricity. The Town was fortunate to lock in at a very stable .139-cent/per KwH electricity rate this year (and for three more years) despite the increases globally. These are fixed costs in a multi-generational inflationary environment on 1.4 million square feet of public facility. As always, a detailed breakdown will be provided by building and by utility come April.

The FY24 preliminary budget reduces the Department of Public Works budget by approximately $942,000 in stormwater costs. These services will move those expenses to the Stormwater Utility Enterprise Fund (see Enterprise Fund details below). The FY24 budget assumes $600,000 is now in the permanent tax base that will go toward roads maintenance and construction. Additionally, the budget assumes an additional $416,000 will go toward Snow and Ice Removal. As a result, I expect the DPW to not need any further capital appropriation toward snow and ice, which will free up about $750,000 in annual capital funding. My FY24 budget will reflect the accurate 10-year average cost of snow and ice.

The DPW also is seeing a large increase in fuel costs. The FY24 budget estimates an increase of $150,000 +/- over FY23 for fuel, which is used for all town and school fleet (sans the busses)

A full year assessment of regional dispatch at $1.28 million. Assuming the district receives the state 911 Grant, 25% of this final assessment will be reduced. The grant program will end in FY25 and the Town will be responsible for the full assessment. A stabilization account has been created to help with the reinstatement of the full price.

The Franklin Public Schools have informed me that to maintain “level” or “status quo” services for the current year, a 7% increase is needed for Franklin Public Schools in FY24. Enrollment based reductions will lower their request by the time the School Committee is completed with their budget process in a few weeks. The formal request will likely be approximately $2.9 million, of 4.2%, over FY23 due to declining enrollment.

There is not a plausible scenario where an increase of either $5 million or $2.9 million could happen out of the town’s operating budget without drastically affecting other town services. School revolving funds and other one-time revenues will certainly be used to generate their budget, just like Local Receipts revenues do for the Town. See above Revenue assumptions.

The School Committee is still in the process of developing their final FY24 budget. Some addition informational points that relate to the fiscal challenges of the public schools and their cost drivers:

Out of District placement costs rose statewide at 14% this year, or $775,496 in direct costs to Franklin Public Schools. Traditionally, this has been 2-3%. Most districts are facing these cost increases. A possible statewide legislative solution may appear, but until then the District will have to absorb these cost increases due to inflation.

Personnel, recruitment, retention, retirements and collective bargaining costs are driving the costs of public education. Salaries make up about 78% of the entire school budget and 10% are benefits. Thus, approximately 88% of the school budget relate to personnel.

School Revolving Funds were at $7 million on 6/30/22. Approximately $5.57 million of those funds are already accounted for in FY23. The District projects a balance of $6.7 million in funds in FY24.

Franklin is a “Hold Harmless” community in the eyes of state aid. Franklin currently receives $11.2 million in excess (hold harmless) state aid and, thus, the Town is held harmless of a penalty due to the steep enrollment drop. This provision of state law has been the safety net. Franklin is second to Boston at $41.7M. Some other districts with excess base aid: Weymouth $7.8M, Billerica $8.2M, Mansfield $6.8M, Pentucket Regional $6.8M, and Somerville at $6.9M.

In 2008, the school district enrollment was 6,464. The current school district enrollment is 4,764 students in the 2021-2022 school year. As everyone knows, the School District is losing 100-150 students a year in district enrollment and this trend is expected throughout most of the rest of the decade. The School Committee is hosting a redistricting exercise and looking at future enrollment projections and facilities needs.

FPS is spending $8.8 million more than what is required by Net School Spending (NSS) state requirements. NSS is the minimum amount a district must spend per student.

As the Town has discussed for many years, a day of reckoning will arrive for the Franklin Public Schools. The dynamics of the District are facing a unique reality. Similar to the City of Boston, which is seeing very similar dynamics, there are no easy answers. The School Committee and Superintendent of Schools have some challenging dynamics to solve.

The preliminary model assumes many strategic town staffing investments to meet the needs of the community. The proposed additions or transitions are:

a Deputy Town Administrator and Administrative Assistant in the Administrator’s Office;

Two Town payroll and/or Human Resources staff to support both town and schools.

Four (4) additional Police officers who will be invested in to help traffic enforcement, mental health related calls and the overall increase in calls for service throughout the community. These investments will also reduce overtime costs to help offset the new salaries.

Two (2) additional paramedics for the EMS unit. It's a simple fact of record breaking calls for service. The situation mirrors the PD above.
 
Transition the part-time Historical Museum Archivist to full-time.

A full-time Director of Public Arts and Cultural Affairs. FY24 will be a half year beginning in January 2024.

A Van Driver and Administrative Assistant at the Senior Center to assist the coordinators of social services, programs and activities and transportation of the new van. This position is also half year beginning in January 2024.

A fleet manager in Public Works to manage the nearly 200 pieces of apparatus the Town owns, including rental equipment, generators, and school trucks and vans.

The Debt and Interest budget remains one of my biggest concerns. At 1.77% of recurring general fund revenues, this slice of the budget is far below town goals and it has been trending in the wrong direction for years due to previous borrowing costs coming off the schedule and high interest rates to quell inflation. It should increase through the rest of the decade to maintain our public schools and facilities.

Other capital facilities or infrastructure projects also would be paid for in this budget. With a decent interest rate for the Schmidt Farm borrowing last December, we are cautiously optimistic that the Town will look at further borrowing for the backlog of projects in the pipeline: the Remington-Jefferson rehabilitation, the High School ten-year update, Washington Street to Grove Street sidewalk, King Street Memorial Park renovation (through CPA); Beaver Street Recycling Center and Solid Waste Master Plan and the Police Station. If the town desires any public reuse of Davis-Thayer, then those costs could be incurred in this area. If the town borrows to do any of these projects in the future, debt and interest will rise and leave fewer dollars available for other areas.

Funds the Norfolk County Pension Retirement assessment at a $318,000 increase, which is actually relatively low compared to recent years that had been averaging $500,000 a year.

Funds employee health care at a 5.2% increase or $332,000. This maintains current plan design and HSA contributions. Fortunately, the overall Benefits budget has been able to absorb recent employee insurance increases due to the continual decrease in resources needed to fund retired Teachers Health Insurance and unemployment insurance.

The model assumes approximately $500,000 in various capital accounts that would appear on the Town’s annual capital plan. The model assumes two police cruisers and regular annual cycles of police tasers, police vests, and fire turnout gear. The budget also assumes additional capital resources in the schools at 7%. This preliminary model does NOT include any technology assumptions or other capital expenditures. In this year’s Capital budget that just completed, approximately $1 million was expended in recurring annual capital.

The Library is funded at MAR level to meet state requirements.

Some modest investments for general professional development, conferences, professional memberships, organization dues in some departments to accommodate new staff. I also proposed $10,000 in the Town Council budget due to increased MMA dues, but also for conference and training opportunities. With more new officials on town boards and committees,
 
having some money for training as an official is advantageous.

$3,000 for a Town LinkedIn service for recruitment in Human Resources.

$10,000 for the Cultural Festival is included.

Utility & Enterprise funds

The Water Enterprise fund is sound due to the infusion of ARPA funds and the water treatment plant is up and running. The Town has not needed an operational water rate increase in five years. I hope that trend will continue and do not see an increase needed this year.

The Sewer Enterprise Fund is a different matter. The Town should expect a large sewer rate increase in order to pay for the Beaver Street Interceptor. Bids on the project are due this week. I expect sewer rate increases to be before the Town Council in May.

The Stormwater Enterprise Utility will see its first full year budget this year. As everyone knows, the town’s Stormwater Utility fee begins on July 1, 2023. Please visit the stormwater website for more information or call the DPW at 508-553-5500.

The Refuse Enterprise account is in good shape due to the retained earnings (savings) the town has due to town policy. That said, as the global trash and recycling markets continue to shift, costs are increasing. A rate increase for trash removal may be necessary within the next year.

What does this model not include?

A short list of items that have been discussed publicly in some variation (not in this order):

Additional resources or share of the pie toward Debt & Interest - see above.

Additional public infrastructure costs of roads, sidewalks, parking lots, trails.

$500,000 in additional capital needs that have been requested to put into the operating budget as annual operating costs.

An increasing demand and reliance on Technology. Whether it's Cyber security, computers for our students and employees, the proper recruitment and retention of exceptional technology staff, or the required fiber and equipment, technology is a cost driver that is here to stay.

Public Safety costs with increasing calls for service, notably mental health related calls.

Tri-County Vocational School building assessment, likely through a debt exclusion, which will be a tax increase for citizens.

Municipal Capital Projects: Davis-Thayer Reuse, Police Station, Beaver Street Recycling facility.

Additional Strategic investments toward Franklin Public Schools, such as foreign language, capital, facilities and arts related curriculum, which has been discussed for many years.

The full agenda and documents released for the Joint Budget Subcommittee meeting ->   https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/agendas/joint_budget_subcommittee_agenda_march_8_2023_1.pdf

Joint Budget Subcommittee page -> https://www.franklinma.gov/joint-budget-subcommittee


FY 2024 Budget Narrative for discussion at Join Budget Subcommittee meeting March 8, 2023 - 7 PM
FY 2024 Budget Narrative for discussion at Join Budget Subcommittee meeting March 8, 2023 - 7 PM

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

Town of Franklin - FY 2023 Budget Narrative - the high level view of what's in this year's proposed budget

In compliance with Article Six, Sections 6-3-1 through 6-5-2 of the Franklin Town Charter, we are submitting the proposed FY23 Budget Message & Budget to the Town Council and Finance Committee.


We are presenting a balanced budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23). The Executive Summary explains the budget process, highlights, assumptions, and some general statistics about the budget. Further below are detailed department budget narratives that speak about the mission and strategic initiatives within each department. Detailed budget line item numbers are in Appendix A. The staff will continue to update the budget model as new information becomes available. We have a Town Budget page and people should consult the website for the latest information.


As the Town, state and country exit the two year pandemic and enter FY23 on July 1, 2022, the Town of Franklin is more prepared and better than ever before. Town department operations have excelled throughout these past two years adapting to the pandemic, but continued to accomplish all of their goals and have positioned the town for continued excellence in 2022-2023 and beyond. The facts present an organization performing at a very high level with tremendous accomplishments for the constituents we serve.


Enough cannot be said for the dedication, commitment, passion, innovation, humility and teamwork the staff of this organization showcase on a daily basis. The overall achievements in this organization have been tremendous. We should all be thankful and appreciate what this team has achieved and the role the municipal and school staff play in the community. The future for the organization remains as bright as ever and the quality of life in Franklin is as exceptional as it has ever been.


The organization is poised to support the budget requests from all departments in FY23, including the Franklin Public Schools. While the DPW financial request was the only one not met, the organization was able to begin to implement a financial remedy for this when the stormwater utility set to take effect on July 1, 2023.

Here are the assumptions being incorporated into the FY23 budget:

Revenues Highlights

       The proposed FY23 budget does not include any revenues from the Budget Stabilization “Rainy Day'' Fund. The fund currently has a balance of $2,038,652. These reserves set the town up to be prepared in the event of an emergency, but equally as important, these reserves show bond rating agencies and financial institutions good financial policy and execution. Strong financial annual audits, an effective OPEB policy, voter approved Community Preservation Act, a stormwater utility and increasing emergency reserves puts the town in a greater position to be competitive with interest rates and maintain a stable bond rating.

       The Property Tax Levy and New Growth” revenue forecast will increase a cumulative $3,202,527 in new property tax revenue from FY22. Traditionally, the Town has used a ten-year average model for the new growth figure. For FY23 this would be $1,224,716. However, the town did not meet its revenue projections in new growth in FY22 and remain conservative and cautious of this dynamic in FY23. Thus, staff have adjusted the revenue figure lower than the ten year average and assume $1,000,000 in new growth revenue by the time the town sets the tax rate in December. This is largely due to uncertain economic factors in the commercial development, housing construction and residential home improvements. Over the past year, the staff have seen a small downturn in planning board and conservation commission applications for larger developments. Also, many new state regulations are set to take effect on housing in the next year. New Growth assumptions will be revisited in November prior to the tax rate hearing as we have done in previous years.


       State Aid is assumed at the Governor’s FY23 budget levels. As it currently stands, a $91,255 increase in local aid from FY22 is the net result. The House of Representatives and the State Senate have historically increased local aid and ended up with a higher figure than the Governor. That said, as staff, stakeholders, and elected officials have discussed for many years, state aid is highly unlikely to be a financial savior this coming fiscal year or in the near future.


       The Town’s Local Receipts look to rebound closer to pre-pandemic numbers. Staff assume an additional $930,000 in local receipts. The Town is still predicting we’ll be shy of the FY21 record breaking year. However, the Recreation Department, Building Department, Board of Health and other permitting departments should see an enthusiastic public, ready to be active again with COVID restrictions removed. The Town should see a steady stream of revenues for town service permits, hotel, meals and motor vehicle excise taxes. To see FY 2023 assumptions, see below.


Finally, per a new town policy, the cannabis excise tax (or “local option sales tax” of 3% of all sales) will be included in this figure. Two retail medical and non-medical stores have opened in Franklin over the course of the past year. The Town has limited data on sales at this point. FY23 should show the community a good baseline year for revenue anticipated through this source. This local option tax diversifies the towns local receipts profile and we anticipate approximately $250,000 a year in revenues to add to the operating budget.

 

       The recommendation for the two active Host Community Agreements (HCA’s) will be:

       $300,000 will go to the Department of Public Works to provide revenue for the Grove Street/Washington Street traffic flight and intersection redesign. Combined with last year’s appropriations and a $2.2 million MassWorks grant, this project will now have almost $3 million to rebuild the road with traffic lights, pedestrian friendly crossings, a bike lane and a rebuilt roadway; and


       $125,000 to the Franklin Police Department for an officer (and benefits, gear, uniform, salary, etc.) who will focus on management of the new dynamics of legal cannabis in town and serve many roles toward ensuring there is proper public service dedicated to substance abuse in town.


HCA Note: A revenue line item has now been created to budget for these agreements. Staff fully expect continued changes to this line item in assumptions, revenues streams and impacts. It will remain fluid due to state regulatory changes. Funds are earmarked in state law for impacts of a marijuana facility and are not general fund revenues to be used anywhere in the town budget.


One major factor in FY23 is the rollout of a new state law relative to Host Community Agreements and, in general, the cannabis industry. Corrective legislation on a myriad of issues with the industry are poised to in effect within the next 1-2 years, including a requirement that cities and towns re-negotiate all agreements with their licensed businesses in their communities. FY23 and FY24 will see substantial changes in this revenue source. Regardless, the mitigation projects from the impacts are good community investments to help solve issues that have arisen from the presence of the industry in Franklin.

 

Expenditures Highlights

       The Franklin Public School District will see an increase of $2,400,000 over FY22. This represents 100% of the request from the School Committee and Superintendent’s Recommended Budget.

       Municipal employee pension costs will absorb almost $500,000 in new revenue for the municipal departments (and some non-teacher employees). These numbers do not include the school department portion of health insurance, which is included in the Superintendent’s budget.

       Overall, debt is still low relative to past years as a percentage of the overall town budget. The proposed budget decreases $296,405 in non-excluded debt and interest as two significant projects, a $2 million School Repairs Bond and a $824,000 Public Buildings Remodeling Bond come off the books. This offsets the debt service increases from Town borrowing $1.55 million for technology infrastructure and  $808,000 for two fire trucks in FY22.


       The Department of Public Works will see an overall increase of $350,842. The increase is for restoration of smaller services that have been reduced over the past two years at the DPW due to the impending requirements for stormwater. The FY23 budget restores the two ground and highway positions that were eliminated from the FY22 budget.


In addition, the community has established a stormwater utility and fee, which should significantly help the funding challenges the DPW has been experiencing in recent years.


See the narrative on the proposed changes in the DPW narrative below.

 

       On January 1, 2021, the Mendon-Millville regional dispatch center merged into the Metacomet Emergency Communications Center (MECC), which gives the special district access to state development grants. This move will save the Town approximately half of its annual assessment in operating budget capacity in FY23. We have budgeted a half year assessment at $610,664, which is anticipated to be ½ of the actual assessment. The state 911 Department is paying for the other half.


In FY24, the District will be eligible for the final grant award as part of this merger. The Town will be obligated to pay 25% of the FY24 assessment.


The Town has established a MECC Stabilization account, which has deposited savings from the MECC into this account to ensure that the Town has the resources when the full MECC assessment comes back on the Town’s books in FY25. Staff anticipate a large increase in one year and will need to phase that share of the budget back in with one-time revenues from the Stabilization account.


Additionally, as part of the merger agreement with Mendon and Millville, excess and deficiency (unspent savings, similar to free cash) funds from the four original communities will be seeing a savings rebate of the first two years of the MECC that will come back to the Town. This rebate is $230,857. Those monies will also be deposited into the Stabilization account, which will then have a balance of approximately $1.134 million.

       New municipal positions in operating budget:

       Two additional staff for the DPW, which were eliminated from the FY22 budget;

       Two additional part-time kitchen staff for the Senior Center cafe;

       Full-time Benefits Coordinator under the supervision of the Town Human Resources Department, but will service all Municipal and School benefits programs and employees; and

       Full-time Conservation Agent/Natural Resource Protection Manager (formerly part-time at 19 hours) will now be full-time given the volume of community planning work being asked of the town on its parks, open space planning, Franklin Greenway, Delcarte management, Earth Day coordination and many more projects. The former part-time position barely met the Town’s needs. Additionally, part-time professional work is a difficult recruitment task these days.

       Community Preservation Act (CPA). In FY23, the Town will see its first state match for CPA and the first slate of projects. The CPA is completely outside of the general budget of the Town (like water, sewer, trash and stormwater utilities). For those interested, please see the CPA Plan HERE.

       The FY23 budget proposal does not include dollars from various federal stimulus allocations (such as CARES Act, American Rescue Plan Act) or federal stimulus grants. All of those revenues are in “special revenue accounts” by state statute. For a complete update on federal stimulus, please visit the Town website here.

Future Trends

Municipal and School departments have been doing a great job managing their budgets, investing in value added services and adapting to citizen feedback and a changing world. Moving forward in to FY23 and the following two fiscal years, we see a handful of issues to monitor:


       Net School Spending. The Superintendent of Schools and School Business Administrator foresee a likely “fiscal challenge” coming in FY25 relative to net school spending requirements in state law. See the recent School Department Budget flier as an issue of significant takeaways.

       MECC. The full assessment for the MECC Regional Dispatch Center comes back on in FY25. While there are reserves set aside for the transition back to a full assessment, this is expected to last only 1-2 fiscal years depending on cost drivers to the regional district. By the time FY25 arrives, the Town assessment will be anticipated at approximately $1.5 million.

       Stormwater Utility. July 1, 2023, or FY24, the stormwater utility implementation will be a tremendous amount of work and will require a 1-3 year transition out of the operating budget and into the utility. The start of this process in FY24 will be exhausting and time consuming for Finance, HR and DPW.

       Inflation will be a factor as wages, petroleum and costs are increasing across the board for materials, goods and services, which will increase town budgets especially for departments such as Facilities and Public Works.

 

       Debt & Interest. The next three fiscal years will see a demand for increased share of debt and interest with projects that are in the pipeline or are anticipated to start within the next year. Projects that will require borrowing, debt and interest are Police Station, Remington-Jefferson Rehabilitation, the Beaver Street Interceptor, Davis-Thayer School and potential open space investments. While some outside the operating budget sources will pay for these projects, it is a reminder costs will continue to rise due to projects that are badly needed or will have significant community interest.

       Recruitment and Retention. Maintaining Franklin as an attractive place to work as employment markets shift as we adapt to the pandemic. A Compensation and Classification Study to analyze market competitiveness in the current environment for nonunion Municipal Departments and the Technology Department. The Town has an exceptional work culture. The Town has invested heavily in facilities, gear, apparatus and equipment that make Franklin an attractive place to work by getting our staff the gear they need to do their jobs.

Revenue trends. As in any year, monitoring revenue trends is important. However, FY23 will give the Town a greater sense of where the economy is post-COVID-19 pandemic, with rising inflation, petroleum costs, interest rates, consumer shopping trends and global finance markets. These dynamics are critical to the Town’s new growth and local receipts revenue sources. 

Find the full set of docs for the FY 2023 budget online

Town of Franklin - FY 2023 Budget Narrative - the high level view of what's in this year's proposed budget
Town of Franklin - FY 2023 Budget Narrative - the high level view of what's in this year's proposed budget