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:

Police Station location & Town Properties "multi-month dialogue and discussion" begins with Council meeting Sep 2, 2026

August 28, 2026

To: Town Council

From: Jamie Hellen, Town Administrator

RE: Town Owned Properties, including Davis-Thayer, Parmenter & 275 Beaver St.

The Town Council and community will see a comprehensive presentation on town owned property. We have included a presentation and cover memo from the Director of GIS.

This presentation will serve as a spring board into a community dialogue about the future use of Parmenter, Davis-Thayer and 275 Beaver Street. There are no final decisions or legislation for action this evening.

Staff have included memorandums for the current conditions at Parmenter, a draft of an Request For Proposals (RFP) for the Davis-Thayer School (including a cover memo with the policy decisions needed to be made by the Town Council) and two RFP drafts related to 275 Beaver St: one to sell, and one to lease 275 Beaver Street.

These drafts are being provided based on decisions by the Town Council in Executive Session in February 2026, as well as the recommended site for the future of the Police Station by the Building Committee.

Members of the Police Station Building Committee will be present this evening, as well as representatives from CHA Consulting, Inc. who is acting as the Owner’s Project Manager (OPM) as required by state law.

Tonight begins a multi-month dialogue and discussion from the Town Council on formal decisions on where to site a new Police Station, whether to sell the Davis-Thayer property, the Parmenter property, where to permanently locate the Recreation Department and whether to sell or lease 275 Beaver Street.

In working with Chair Dellorco, we are anticipating Council discussions on this issue will occur on a monthly basis through, at least, the end of the year, or as long as the Council desires.

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11.        PRESENTATIONS / DISCUSSION -

b.        Discussion/Presentation: Town Owned Properties & siting of a new Police Station

i.   Town Administrator Memorandum

ii.     Town Owned Properties - Director of GIS, Kate Hinckley

1. Director memorandum

2.  GIS presentation

iii.   Director of Public Facilities Memorandum re: Parmenter

iv.   Police Station Building Committee website

v.   Director of Planning & Community Development Memorandum

vi.   Draft Request for Proposals (RFP) for Davis-Thayer property

vii.   Draft Request for Proposals (RFP) for 275 Beaver Street (sell)

viii.   Draft Request for Proposals (RFP) for 275 Beaver Street (lease)

The full agenda doc - https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09022026-2482

Town Council to consider Medway & Millis Sewer Capacity Transfer Proposal - 09/02/26

On the Town Council agenda for the Wednesday, Sep 2 session is return of the excess sewer capacity item from earlier this year.

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August 28, 2026

To: Town Council

From: Jamie Hellen, Town Administrator

RE: Medway & Millis Sewer

After a meeting between representatives from Millis and Medway the Franklin Town Councilors Dellorco and LeBlanc, and Franklin Town Administrator Jamie Hellen, communities agree to the following proposed rate and number of gallons being transferred, as follows:

● 150,000 gallon transfer to each community;

● At a rate of $10.50 per gallon;

● All other language from the previous draft agreements remains unchanged (except some tweaks by the lawyers highlighted in yellow).

Staff have attached 3 tables of data that were requested:

● Table 1 - Projected sewer flow versus usage.

● Table 2 - Outstanding development in the pipeline (Title V projected capacity versus expected). Please note, with all permitted or pipelined development, the Town expects 100,339 Gallons Per Day (GPD) of sewer flow, which represents nearly

800-1,000 units of housing and more commercial development.

● Table 3 - Historic flows for the past 20 years.

If approved, some of the benefits to Franklin include:

● $3,150,000 million in combined revenue to stabilize sewer rates and provide for capital investments into the system to make it better;

 

● Reduces the sewer operating budget by about $98,000 in Franklin’s annual capital assessment from the Charles River Pollution Control District (CRPCD), further stabilizing the need for a rate increase due for the operating budget;

● Over time, as Millis and Medway use their capacity, we expect Franklin’s Annual O&M assessment from CRPCD to decrease by more than $225,000. This will be a long term, gradual change.

● Enables the town to further control development, while still having a surplus amount for decades to come.

Letter shared from - https://www.franklinma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/10799/11a-i---MEMO---Medway-and-Millis-Sewer-Transfers-1

11.        PRESENTATIONS / DISCUSSION -

a.                Update on the Sewer Capacity Transfer to Medway & Millis

i. Town Administrator Memo on Sewer Transfers

●     Data Request: Table 1 - Current Residential & Commercial Flows

●     Data Request: Table 2 - Ongoing, Approved, Anticipated Development

●     Data Request: Table 3 - 20-year historic sewer flows

●     See Legislation for Action #12a. (Millis)

●     See Legislation for action #12b. (Medway)

●     See Legislation for action #12c. (District Amendment)

You can find the full agenda - https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09022026-2482

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!

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

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

Franklin Town Council Approves Town Administrator Contract

On Wednesday, August 12, the Franklin Town Council voted 5-4 to approve a new employment contract for Town Administrator Jamie Hellen. Hellen’s contract is extended through June 30, 2030.

As required by law, the contract negotiations were conducted in executive session before the Council voted on the resolution to approve in open session.

“I believe Jamie has demonstrated strong leadership and a deep commitment to the Town of Franklin,” said Town Council Chair Robert Dellorco. “He has helped keep the Town focused on the important work in front of us and has developed an exceptional staff culture. I’m pleased to support his contract and look forward to what we can continue to accomplish together over the next four years.”

Town Council Vice Chair Gene Grella, who voted against the contract, said his vote was not a reflection of his assessment of Hellen's work as Town Administrator or the work of the Town staff.

“We all have respect for Jamie and the work he has done over the past 11 years,” said Vice Chair Grella. “The four Councilors who voted against the contract had concerns with the process, timing and approach taken with the contract extension and modification.”

Town Council Clerk Ted Cormier-Leger, a veteran of the Council, also added his support for extending his contract.

“Having served on the Town Council and worked with Jamie over the past five years, I’ve had the opportunity to see firsthand his leadership and commitment to Franklin,” said Clerk Cormier-Leger. “He has built strong relationships with our departments, employees, community stakeholders and the Council. I believe that extending his contract is in the best interest of our organization.”

In 2026, Hellen is completing his 11th year as an employee in Franklin. He served as the Town’s first ever Deputy Town Administrator between Jan. 2016 to May of 2019 when he officially took the reins from previous Town Administrator, Jeff Nutting. Together, Nutting and Hellen have provided stable executive leadership for 25 years in Franklin.

“I’m grateful and honored for the opportunity to continue serving the Town of Franklin and for the confidence placed in me by the Town Council,” said Town Administrator Hellen. “I’m proud of the work our staff and volunteers accomplish every day. I look forward to continuing to work within the community to build on the progress we’ve made and focus on the priorities ahead.”

Hellen’s contact extension and modification highlighted only a handful of changes:

● The contract term was extended through June 30, 2026;

● He received no additional compensation, nor did Hellen request any increase in pay, as the salary is within the market. The compensation has already been approved in the FY27 budget;

● The vehicle allowance for work travel was increased to $5,000 annually from

$3,500 annually, which is to reflect the inflation related cost increases of travel since 2019;

● Removal of required language for the Deputy Town Administrator; and

● Notification of resignation was increased from 30 days to 90 days notice.

For more information, visit the Town Administrator webpage on the Town of Franklin’s website. https://www.franklinma.gov/159/Administrator

Read the approved Town Administrator’s contract for additional details.

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/7471/Town-Administrator-Employment-Contract---August-12-2026?bidId=

Prior Contract - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BMWZzUI0T84tNYwAI0nfH4Pmwo5dsMOL/view?usp=drive_link

Town Council votes to approve Town Administrator's contract by 5-4 vote (audio)

FM #1797 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, numbers 1797 in the series. 

This session shares the Franklin (MA) Town Council meeting held on Wednesday, August 12, 2026. The Council held this session as scheduled beginning at 6 PM. All 9 members participated in Chambers.

The Council voted to enter Executive Session immediately and about 4 hours later returned to open session, voting to return to open session before the recording was enabled. 

This post Executive Session portion was successfully broadcast to cable subscribers and to YouTube but unavailable for Zoom.

Recap:

There was only one action item on the agenda, to negotiate the TOwn Administrator contract in Executive Session, and then to vote on it in the public portion of the meeting.

• Motion to approve contract, second, passes 5-4
• (5 = yes, LeBlanc, Morrongiello, Dellorco, Cormier-Ledger, Ojukwo and 4 = no, Callaway-Tripp, Grella, Griffith & Molloy) (Note: The TV video did not capture the hands raised.) (Note, it would also have been good for the Council to inform the community of what was in the contract that they wrestled so long with.)

Franklin TV YouTube video - 

 - Part 2 return from Executive Session   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy8O3CvNhHI

 - Part 1 - open meeting enters Executive Session   https://www.youtube.com/live/KVGmbhOOM_A?&t=132

Agenda doc for this session - https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_08122026-2444 

The audio link (leaving out the trouble with re-opening the Zoom session)

Audio - https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1797-franklin-ma-town-council-mtg-08-12-26/

Read the approved Town Administrator’s contract for additional details.

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/7471/Town-Administrator-Employment-Contract---August-12-2026?bidId=

Prior Contract - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BMWZzUI0T84tNYwAI0nfH4Pmwo5dsMOL/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 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"

Town Council votes to approve Town Administrator's contract by 5-4 vote (video)

The Town Council met in Executive Session for more than 4 hours on Wednesday night, August 12, 2026. All 9 Councilors were present in Chambers for this session.

Motion to approve contract, second, passes 5-4

• (5 = yes, LeBlanc, Morrongiello, Dellorco, Cormier-Ledger, Ojukwo and 4 = no, Callaway-Tripp, Grella, Griffith & Molloy) (Note: The TV video did not capture the hands raised.) (Note, it would also have been good for the Council to inform the community of what was in the contract that they wrestled so long with.)

Franklin TV YouTube video - 

 - Part 2 return from Executive Session   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy8O3CvNhHI

 - Part 1 - open meeting enters Executive Session   https://www.youtube.com/live/KVGmbhOOM_A?&t=132

Agenda doc for this session - https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_08122026-2444 

The FY 2025 Financial Audit gets presented to the Town Council (and us) on Wednesday, July 22

July 17, 2026

To: Town Council

From: Jamie Hellen, Town Administrator

RE: FY25 Financial Audit

Attached in the packet is the finalized FY25 Audit. A representative of CBIZ will be making a short presentation on the findings, which is also included in the packet.

For four consecutive fiscal years, the Town has consistently received unmodified audit opinions, the highest level of assurance auditors can provide on its financial statements.

All town financial audits are archived here - https://www.franklinma.gov/Archive.aspx?AMID=36

Please let us know if you have any questions.

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Scheduled for the Town Council agenda at the July 22 session

11. PRESENTATIONS / DISCUSSION -

a. Presentation: FY25 Audit - Ben Wilkinson, Senior Manager, CBIZ   https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/10230/11a-FY25-Audit

i. Presentation slides   https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/10231/11a-i---PRESENTATION-SLIDES---Town-of-Franklin-MA-2025-Audit-Presentation-07222026pptx