3 items to add to the single vs. split tax rate discussion scheduled for the Town Council meeting Oct 14, 2026

In addition to the info brought forth by the FHS students for the tax rate discussion tonight at the Town Council meeting, I offer the following.

Item 1 

For the chart the students offered in the Comparison Report, I

1 - added the total assessed valuation per community

2 - sorted by the CIP%

3 - highlighted the exceptions in both sections of the sort

The same chart in PDF format

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MhtZaxxPYhk_2o35ETje_1G-7CLsfq0M/view?usp=drive_link

The Excel workbook used for this

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/118r4s31jOLdPMBJ_FuWj3XE47vhQ6WlI/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=101938843903614700481&rtpof=true&sd=true

Item 2

Content in context is important. While the research produced the chart with 17 communities, what is the view across the Commonwealth? The Dept of Local Services has a great data bank to provide the info. 2026 was chosen as the data for 2027 is not fully populated across the 351. 2022 was chosen simply as the first year before the housing crunch from COVID.

In 2026, 129 of the 351 communities had split tax rates

In 2026, 37 had a CIP% less than 20%  (92 had more than 20%)

In 2022, 118 of the 351 communities had split rates

In 2022, 49 had a CIP% less than 20%  (70 had more than 20%)

Why the change in 4 years? Oh, the residential valuations have increased significantly more than the commercial valuations changing the ratio between the two.

Has the residential demand (or valuations) slowed down yet? Not likely given what we are seeing in the market.

Item 3

From the FY 2026 tax rate hearing (and decision to confirm the single rate as calculated)  

While it is regularly mentioned during the tax rate hearings, the move to a split rate does not add a single dollar to our revenue. All it does is shift the burden from one property class to another.

I'd also add, no matter the single or split rate, no matter the rate rising or falling, the tax bill is always going up.

Additional charts posted in Dec 2025

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/12/annual-tax-rate-hearing-for-fy-2026.html

The full agenda doc for the Town Council meeting October 14, 2026

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_10142026-2560

Town Administrator Jamie Hellen's memo to the Town Council on Tax Rate Workshop #1

"October 8, 2026

To: Town Council

From: Jamie Hellen, Town Administrator

Michelle Monsegur, Deputy Town Administrator

RE: Tax Rate Workshop #1

A central goal for the Town Council in 2026-27 is to evaluate the tax rate.

October 14th is the first in a series of three tax rate workshops and public discussions to be held this fall. The second and third workshops will be held on October 28th and November 18th respectively. The annual tax classification hearing is planned for December 2nd.

On October 14th we will kick off the public discussion with a presentation by three Franklin High School students, Shravan Dev, Arnav Garg, and Saumy Jani, who recently completed a summer internship in the Town Administration Department. They have done an incredible amount of tax rate research with a focus on comparing single vs split tax rates, and we look forward to seeing the outcome of their outstanding work. Their presentation and analysis report is included in the agenda packet for the October 14, 2026 Town Council meeting.

The goal for workshop #1 is to get direction from the Town Council on what information and analysis they would like to see for the following workshops in October and November, ahead of the tax classification hearing in December. It is our recommendation that the Council also allow public comment on this issue during the second and third workshops.

The Assessors’ FY26 tax rate packet from last year’s tax classification hearing is included in the agenda packet as an additional reference."

PDF version of this memo to the Council as part of the Oct 14 agenda

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/11284/11a-i---MEMO---Tax-Rate-Workshop-1 

Tax rate package for FY 2026 - https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/7790/6a-Tax

Presentation doc (as referenced above)

https://www.franklinma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/11278/11a-ii-1---Franklin-Tax-Rate-Council-Presentationpptx---Google-Slides

Comparison Report (details upon which the presentation was drawn from) - https://www.franklinma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/11277/11a-ii-2---Franklin-Tax-Rate-Study-Single-vs-Split-Rate-Analysisdocx

Complete agenda for Oct 14 session

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_10142026-2560

Presentation embedded here:

Town Council starts set of 3 workshops to understand split vs. single tax rate issue

📢 UPCOMING TAX RATE WORKSHOPS

The Town Council will hold three workshops to discuss whether Franklin should maintain a single property tax rate or adopt a split tax rate.

🏛️ Residents and business owners are encouraged to attend and share their feedback!

📅 View workshop dates and Town Council meeting agendas: https://buff.ly/599jiS9

Agenda for the first session, Wednesday,  October 14

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_10142026-2560 

In this Talk Franklin episode TA Jamie Hellen let's us in on what's happening beginning in September (audio)

FM #1800 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1800 in the series. 

This session of the radio show shares our “Talk Franklin” discussion with Town Administrator Jamie Hellen. We recorded our conversation virtually via Zoom on Monday, August 17, 2026.  

Key topics

• Mid-summer status

• Town Council & contract extension

• A validated budget for FY 2027

• Joint Budget working on a strategy

• More topics coming

• Sept 2

• Town available land and facilities

• Sept 16

• Legislative update with Senator Rausch & Rep Roy

• Presentations by Food Pantry, SAFE Coalition, 250th Celebration

• Sept 3

• Police station building committee

• Economic Development 

• Split tax workshops

• UMass students study on downtown

The recording runs about 37 minutes. Let’s listen to our conversation.

Audio link - https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/letstalkfranklin/episodes/Talk-Franklin--A-Podcast-from-the-Town-Administrators-Office---August-17--2026-e3nih1r/a-acr33iq

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Town of Franklin page -  https://www.franklinma.gov/ 

Notify Me - sign up for notification on meetings and agendas  https://www.franklinma.gov/list.aspx 

Subscribe to Franklin First newsletter  https://www.franklinma.gov/m/newsflash 

Community calendar  https://bit.ly/FranklinCommunityCalendar 

Town Administrator contract press release https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/08/franklin-town-council-approves-town.html 

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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 out. We’ll share and show you what and how we do what we do

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

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

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

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

I hope you enjoy!

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

Town Council approves single rate but shows interest in split rate, frustration on lack of preparation for the decision (audio)

FM #1599 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1599 in the series. 

This session shares the Franklin (MA) Town Council meeting held on Wednesday, December 3, 2025. The Council held this session as scheduled beginning at 6 PM. All 9 Councilors participated for this 3 hour session. 

 

Quick recap:

• Franklin TV had trouble broadcasting the video. It was recorded and will be available later. The Zoom session was active for audio only.

• Town Administrator Jamie Hellen walked the new Council though the 5 year revenue forecast and laid out what’s coming next

• The Public hearing on the Tax rate was opened and ultimately closed after much discussion. The Council did vote to approve the single tax rate by an 8-1 vote. The Council indicated a strong interest for more info on the benefits of a split tax rate. They seemed wanting to go for until they understood that a split rate decision would delay the Town timeline on getting the 1st Quarter bills out

The recording runs about 3 hours 

Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1599-town-council-mtg-12-0325/

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Franklin TV video is NOT yet available for replay -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zByUmQbYP08

The agenda for this session ->   https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_12032025-2031 

My notes for the full meeting in one PDF -> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zZoXOBk167dHuuSm3wetBhhP25WyaSRf/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 out. 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 Public Radio wfpr.fm schedule for Thursday, October 2, 2025

Yes, Franklin has it's own radio station -> wfpr.fm. Franklin Public Radio has a brand new schedule for the locally produced shows that fill our air waves. 

It is available anywhere, anytime at wfpr.fm or in the local Franklin, MA area at 102.9 on the FM dial.

Tune in to listen to the following:

Franklin Public Radio wfpr.fm schedule for Thursday

8:00 AM, 1:00 PM, and 6:00 PM - Franklin Matters Radio – Steve Sherlock covering Franklin, its local government, services, and events 

• This segment shares my conversation Talking small business & tax rates with Jack Lack, United Regional Chamber of Commerce ->   https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/09/jack-lank-talks-about-making.html

9:00 AM, 2:00 PM, and 7:00 PM - first hour

10:00 AM, 3:00 PM, and 8:00 PM - second hour

Turntable – "Enjoy a fun experience with co-hosts The Vibe and Pauly G sharing personal discussions about a featured rock n roll vinyl record (1st hour) and the best, all music Vibe Playlist (2nd hour)"  

• The Turntable Show Album Hour features Dire Straits and their award winning 1985 "Brothers In Arms" record  
• The Vibe Playlist Hour airs Dire Straits and their extremely unique sound & musical quality evolving from the "“Pub Rock" days in the U.K. with amazing performances recorded live   

Brothers In Arms was the first album to be certified ten-times platinum in the UK and is certified nine-times platinum in the United States.   With 5 major hits including "Money for Nothing" it is one of the all-time best records ever with over 30 million copies sold worldwide. 

Find the playlist ->  https://tinyurl.com/TurntablePlaylists

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

Jack Lank talks about making connections, small business issues, and the split vs. single tax rate (audio)

FM #1508 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1508 in the series.

This session shares my conversation with Jack Lank, Executive Director for the United Regional Chamber of Commerce. We had our conversation in the Franklin TV & Radio studio on Tuesday, September 2, 2025

 

Our conversation covers Jack’s role in fostering connections amongst business and government to meet the needs of the 16 communities the organization covers. We touch on the split tax vs single rate property tax, the tariffs situation and business disruption it brings given all the legal uncertainty around them. 

The recording runs about 46 minutes, so let’s listen in. Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1508-jack-lank-chamber-small-business-connections-09-02-25/

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United Regional Chamber of Commerce page -> https://unitedregionalchamber.org/ 

On Facebook main page -> https://www.facebook.com/UnitedRegional/ 

 

Ribbon Cutting at BFT in Franklin Village on
Friday hosted by United Regional Chamber of Commerce

On Facebook “Rally Around the Restaurants” -> https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057116753301 

Original post in 2007

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2007/12/20-reasons-to-not-implement-dual-tax.html

Updated post in 2010 

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2010/12/split-tax-vs-single-tax-rate.html

Updated post in 2021

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/11/20-reasons-to-not-implement-dual-tax.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 out. 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"