FY 09 TOWN COUNCIL BUDGET HEARINGS
TUESDAY MAY 27, 2008
6:00 PM
COUNCIL CHAMBERS
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
TOWN COUNCIL BUDGET HEARING - 6:00 PM
the first time in five years Franklin is not using its reserves for operating expenses
GHS
FRANKLIN —
The Town Council is due to vote tonight on the town's $88.02 million operating budget, following its second public hearing at 6 p.m.
With water, sewer and solid waste spending included, the town's fiscal 2009 budget totals $99.5 million.
The council will also consider a request Councilor Robert Vallee last Wednesday said he would make to add two officers to Police Chief Stephen T. Williams' 46-member force.
Williams had asked for the additional officers in his initial budget request, but was denied.
Policing in town continues to increase each year, while the department is understaffed, Williams said.
Each new officer could cost the town $60,000 to $80,000, Williams estimated.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
Go to the Council Chambers tonight to participate or tune in via cable to see the Town Council and School Committee meeting back to back tonight. Town Council at 6:00 PM. School Committee was scheduled for 7:00 PM (before the Town Council adjust their schedule to finish up tonight).
Monday, May 26, 2008
Letter from Ed Cafasso
Good evening everyone!
I hope you and your families had a pleasant Memorial Day weekend. We certainly could not have asked for a better stretch of weather…
I wanted to pass along a couple of important scheduling notes as we all head back into our work and home routines, and the kids enter the homestretch of the 07-08 academic year.
On Tuesday (the 27th) at 6 p.m., the Town Council is schedule to finalize Franklin’s budget for fiscal 2009, which begins July 1. The school budget will be among those voted upon by the Council. Immediately following that session, the School Committee is scheduled to meet at 7:15 p.m.
Tuesday’s School Committee meeting will be an important one because it will be the first time we will be in position to analyze in more detail how the recent move to lay-off school personnel will impact academic classes, class sizes in key grades, and extracurricular offerings in the fall.
Now that the lay-offs have gone forward, in combination with retirements and terminations, Supt. Ogden and his staff will be able to present a clearer picture of the potential impact on student services. I urge you to tune in to the discussion Tuesday night if possible.
On Wednesday night, members of the Town Council, the School Committee and the Finance Committee will gather at 7 p.m. at the Mercer Auditorium at Horace Mann Middle School for a town-wide forum to answer citizen questions about the override votes scheduled for June 10.
I hope you will take the opportunity to attend Wednesday evening’s forum to learn more about the town’s fiscal condition and to speak your mind on budget matters, the town’s financial management and the value of the school services to the quality of life and property values here.
For additional information, you can view the Town budget page at: http://www.franklin.ma.us/auto/town/admin/budget2/default.htm
You can view the proposed FY09 school budget at:
http://www.franklin.ma.us/auto/schools/FPS/super1/FY06Budget/default.htm
In addition, an override page is available that offers a central repository for a great deal of school and financial information. You can view it at:
http://franklinschoolcommittee.wordpress.com/override-page/
A small group of parents has begun to organize a citizen’s group in support of the override. If you are interested in meeting with them, please let me know and I will connect you.
Thank you for your time and attention, and your continued support. Please stay tuned for additional budget information in the weeks ahead.
Ed Cafasso, Member
Franklin School Committee
I hope you and your families had a pleasant Memorial Day weekend. We certainly could not have asked for a better stretch of weather…
I wanted to pass along a couple of important scheduling notes as we all head back into our work and home routines, and the kids enter the homestretch of the 07-08 academic year.
On Tuesday (the 27th) at 6 p.m., the Town Council is schedule to finalize Franklin’s budget for fiscal 2009, which begins July 1. The school budget will be among those voted upon by the Council. Immediately following that session, the School Committee is scheduled to meet at 7:15 p.m.
Tuesday’s School Committee meeting will be an important one because it will be the first time we will be in position to analyze in more detail how the recent move to lay-off school personnel will impact academic classes, class sizes in key grades, and extracurricular offerings in the fall.
Now that the lay-offs have gone forward, in combination with retirements and terminations, Supt. Ogden and his staff will be able to present a clearer picture of the potential impact on student services. I urge you to tune in to the discussion Tuesday night if possible.
On Wednesday night, members of the Town Council, the School Committee and the Finance Committee will gather at 7 p.m. at the Mercer Auditorium at Horace Mann Middle School for a town-wide forum to answer citizen questions about the override votes scheduled for June 10.
I hope you will take the opportunity to attend Wednesday evening’s forum to learn more about the town’s fiscal condition and to speak your mind on budget matters, the town’s financial management and the value of the school services to the quality of life and property values here.
For additional information, you can view the Town budget page at: http://www.franklin.ma.us/auto/town/admin/budget2/default.htm
You can view the proposed FY09 school budget at:
http://www.franklin.ma.us/auto/schools/FPS/super1/FY06Budget/default.htm
In addition, an override page is available that offers a central repository for a great deal of school and financial information. You can view it at:
http://franklinschoolcommittee.wordpress.com/override-page/
A small group of parents has begun to organize a citizen’s group in support of the override. If you are interested in meeting with them, please let me know and I will connect you.
Thank you for your time and attention, and your continued support. Please stay tuned for additional budget information in the weeks ahead.
Ed Cafasso, Member
Franklin School Committee
In case you missed the parade
Here are some musical highlights from each of the Franklin Public Schools as the marched by this morning.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Franklin Fire Dept. new Tower Truck
The new $860,000 Tower 1 truck is at home in the new fire station in downtown Franklin, MA.
The truck will be paid for over five years, the first payment this year at $160,000, followed by four yearly payments of $175,000 each.
With a little luck it will be used for training and parades. If it does get called out to be used in a fire, the safety features it contains will hopefully enable a safe operation and rescue, if necessary.
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From the Town Council meeting authorizing payment (audio and text)
From the Finance Committee meeting authorizing payment (audio)
"The family atmosphere we have is because of them"
GHS
Thousands of Bay State residents will observe Memorial Day today with cookouts, parties, days at the beach or soaking up sun with family and friends.
While she doesn't begrudge anyone having a good time this holiday weekend, Jodi Cabino-Cipriano wants people to remember the cost every Memorial Day entails.
The Franklin resident will this year mark the third Memorial Day since her son, Shayne Cabino, was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq. She said the holiday this week should serve as a reminder of the cost her family - and thousands more like it across the country - have paid.
"It'll never be the same," she said of the holiday. "I'll never have it again. We'll never, ever, ever be complete."
Cabino joined the Marine Corps after graduating from high school and was just 19 when he was sent to Iraq. He was killed along with three others when an improvised explosive device exploded outside Fallujah.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here.
"The energy this crystal has is very loving"
GHS
FRANKLIN —
It's not a bad life, being one of Sage Marianne's "babies."
Sage gently sings to the "newborn" crystals and says she infuses them with a divine healing energy.
A few of them even rest in their own purple velvet-lined basinets.
Since Sage's first "birth" in October 2000, she has opened her Glenn Meadow Road home to hundreds, possibly thousands of quartz crystals she unearthed during her bi-annual crystal mining trips to Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Recently, 63-year-old Sage "Crystal Singer" returned from Hot Springs where she unearthed a few new gems, a tradition that began when she decided to take a six-week absence from work to explore who she is, she said.
"I'm an adventurous woman. I always wanted to drive cross-country - it took me (more than a decade) to do it," Sage said.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
"50 cents a day, just seems like such a bargain"
As Franklin's second Proposition 2 1/2 override vote in as many years approaches, town officials are seeking to inform residents about the possibility of teacher layoffs, among other proposed school-related cuts, if they turn down the requested property-tax increase.
A special election has been called for June 10 to ask voters to decide on the proposed $2.8 million override. If approved, the additional funds would allow the district to save approximately 43.5 teaching positions - 16 at Franklin High, 12.5 at the middle school, and 15 at the elementary school - that would otherwise be eliminated, according to school officials. The extra tax money would also forestall a $100 increase in the pay-to-ride bus fee, and spare late bus service for students who stay after school for clubs and other extracurricular activities, they said.
Read the full article here in the Boston Globe
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Simple choice - maintain or cut
As demand for services rise our staff levels continue to fall. There are two unpleasant solutions to this problem. Continue to reduce services or increase taxes.From the FY 2005 Budget Statement (PDF) published by Jeff Nutting in April 2004. This quote can be found on the bottom of page 11. The override mentioned was held in November 2004 and it failed by a 1,148 votes.
An override will be requested for the FY 06 Budget. I estimate it will require approximately $4 million to maintain the level of services that currently exist. A successful override will allow us to balance the budget in the short term but in the long run the fundamental gap between revenues and expenses will arise creating the same problem in the future. The only long-term solution will depend upon changing the the tax laws to curtail the over reliance on the property tax as the primary source of funding local government.
The override is intended to address the current financial problems. It does not address the need to upgrade the high school, reconstruct roads and sidewalks, or fund a hugh unfunded health insurance obligation. These issues will have to be addressed over the next three years.
The future fiscal years beyond FY 07 will be difficult to deal without additional revenues. Please carefully review pages 4-6 titled FY 08 Budget Projections. You will note that with a very modest 2.5% increase in general costs along with increases in energy, health insurance, etc. the town will face a multi-million dollar shortfall. The 2.5% increase is not adequate to provide the same level of services that are currently provided and will lead to reductions in school/municipal services. realistically, the increase would need to be closer to 5% to maintain services. There is no way to avoid the eventual reality that our reserves are dwindling while our costs continue to rise faster than our revenues. I believe that FY 08 will be the year that difficult choices will have to be made in order to balance the budget.From the FISCAL 2007 Annual Report published April 20, 2006 (PDF) by Jeff Nutting. The quote can be found on the bottom of page 2. The difficult choices mentioned did occur in FY 08 and resulted in the first operational override to pass in Franklin by a margin of 1,306 votes.
Final Comment - What do you get for your property taxes?This is from the Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Statement (PDF) as published by Jeff Nutting in March 2008. This quote can be found on the top of the last page, page 11.
Franklin's property taxes are very reasonable. Unlike other taxes we pay, all of your property tax dollars remain in Franklin. The average tax bill in Franklin is $3,872. That amount provides high quality education, saves property and lives, plows your streets, provides library and recreational opportunities, and assists our senior citizens and veterans. When you need a paramedic, police officer, or other public service, they are a phone call away. Your tax dollars are used to improve your quality of life, and in the case of property owners, maintain and increase the value of your investment. In good times or bad, we strive to be prudent with your tax dollars and be responsive to your needs.
As these quotes from the budget information provided during the past several years indicate, an override this year is not a surprise. We have a systemic issue that is not being addressed. We have avoided the painful choices by drawing down the stabilization fund. It is no longer a smart fiscal choice to make. The choice remaining is to cut services (in this case educational services for our children) or raise taxes.
Put all the other arguments aside: Do you want to maintain our quality educational services or do we start cutting deeper than we have before?
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Learn all you can by visiting here frequently.
Visit the School Committee override page for the schedule of information sessions
You can find override related information here
Be informed to cast your vote on June 10th
"We are compelled to never forget"
GHS
FRANKLIN —
In a poignant "Missing Man" ceremony, Police Chief Stephen Williams urged a roomful of veterans, their loved ones and local dignitaries gathered at the Elks Lodge yesterday, not to forget missing and fallen soldiers.
Lined up in crisp uniforms and white gloves, the solemn-faced Franklin Police Honor Guard - Lt. Thomas J. Lynch, Sgt. Mark Manocchio, Officers Paul Fiorio, Paul Guarino, Jonathan Bussey and John Maloney - held symbolic items as Williams honored soldiers missing in action and prisoners of war.
Music played as the chief, who was a military police sergeant during the Vietnam War, spoke of the "sweetness" of honor and serving one's country that is tainted by the bitterness of loss.
"We are compelled to never forget," he said, explaining why he showed a documentary video about the painstaking work and precision involved in guarding Arlington National Cemetery where "unknown" fallen soldiers rest.
"We call them brothers ... they're unable to be with their families," but Arlington is a place of dignity and honor, he said, encouraging audience members to visit.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here.
Honoring 175 Years of Education at the Red Brick School
The Brick School is 175 Years Old!
Come One…Come All…Everyone is Invited!Please join us for a Fun Family Picnic
Honoring 175 Years of Education at the Red Brick School
Sunday, June 1st
1:00pm – 5:00pm
Franklin Town Common
1:00pm – 5:00pm
Franklin Town Common
Bring your chairs, blankets and pack a picnic lunch -- relax and enjoy a fun day!
Musical Performances include:
Jamie Barrett and friends singing the “Franklin Song” and other hits! 1:30 - 1:50
Remington Middle School Jazz Band 2:00 – 2:30pm
Franklin Middle Combined String Orchestra 2:45 – 3:15pm
FHS – Sound in the Hall artist Adriana Driggs, Tom Lazinski, Bodacious Banana Extravaganza and more! 3:45 - 4:45
And more……
Okey Dokey DJ will be on hand the entire day providing music and fun Karaoke sessions between performances
Fun Free Activities for the Kids!
Gerwick Puppets performing at 2:00pm
Face Painting
Moonwalk
Capron Park Zoo Mobile
Refreshments:
To go with your picnic lunch, we will have water and soda available for $1.00
Save room for dessert!! There will be free cake for everyone!
This is event is sponsored by the Benjamin Franklin Bank Charitable Foundation
For more information email: Brick School Association
We hope you can make it!!
From the Town Crier posting here.
Friday, May 23, 2008
"the remainder can be directed toward any number of capital items"
GHS
FRANKLIN —
Town Council voted 8-1 Wednesday to sell the former Four Corners School to Walgreens for $2.5 million.
Councilor Robert Vallee abstained from the vote.
The vote authorizes Town Administrator Jeffery D. Nutting and Town Attorney Mark G. Cerel to enter into a purchase and sales agreement with Arista Development LLC of Norwood, which is proposing the Walgreens Pharmacy.
Arista, which has developed several Walgreens across the northeast, including one in Bellingham, was the only bidder for the town-owned property at the intersection of King Street and Rte. 140, Nutting has said.
Though the council has agreed to the sale, Arista must still obtain various permits from the Planning Board, Council Chairman Christopher Feeley said Wednesday.
"In the past, I have fought against selling" town-owned property, said Councilor Scott Mason, adding that he voted for it in this instance to help improve the town's finances.
"I don't think it's fair to keep asking people to dip into their pockets," he said, cautioning that people should be clear about how the $2.5 million can be used.
"(Some) residents have a misguided sense of what we can and cannot do with the money. It cannot go into the operating budget, it can't be used to hire teachers or new DPW workers," Mason said.
Read the full story in the Milford Daily News here
"this gift will have increased tenfold"
GHS
FRANKLIN —
By sacrificing a Gatorade here, a candy bar there, Franklin High students collected enough dollars to give impoverished families a heifer, llama, pig, goat, or swarm of bees to improve their lives.
For the third year, the students spent four weeks raising money for Heifer International, an organization devoted to ending hunger and poverty by giving families a way to produce food and goods for themselves, rather than short-term relief. The students raised a record-breaking $8,400 in donations, said foreign language teacher Jackie Eckhardt, chairwoman of a teachers committee on global awareness.
As part of the global awareness program, which staff initiated to expose students to cultures around the world, the school has held interactive assemblies for students, Eckhardt said.
Read the full story in the Milford Daily News here
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Budget Hearing Schedule - 2nd Hearing 5/27/08 at 6:00 PM
Town Council decided not to hold another hearing today and instead will hold a second public hearing and vote on the fiscal 2009 budget next Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building.
So the next budget hearing is Tuesday 5/27/08 at 6:00 PM.
Why 6:00 PM?
The School Committee already has a regular meeting scheduled for 7:00 PM in the same location.
So be prepared for Tuesday to start at 6:00 PM.
From the town's perspective, it's a matter of not filling positions
GHS
FRANKLIN —
During the first of two public hearings on Franklin's fiscal 2009 budget, Councilor Robert Vallee announced he will recommend adding two new police officers to the force.
Neither Police Chief Stephen T. Williams nor Fire Chief Gary McCarraher could answer affirmatively when Vallee asked whether they felt comfortable protecting citizens with their department's budget.
"I can't tell you I feel comfortable. ... Things begin to fall apart" when the Fire Department has to respond to multiple, simultaneous calls, McCarraher said.
In his initial budget request, Williams sought two additional officers as police work in Franklin continues to increase, including handling children, the elderly, traffic and safety, he said.
"In past years, those areas had significant increases in caseload," said Williams.
The Police Department employees 46 sworn officers, including the chief and deputy chief - well below the norm for towns like Franklin, Williams said.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
Cicada Tracking
An interesting site appeared on my reading radar thanks to the folks at UniversalHub; Massachusetts Cicadas.
Living in Massachusetts, unfortunately, there aren't many species of Cicadas to study so this site will be focused on studying the cicadas of New England along taking part in field trips to other states and studying the cicadas there.
So far, I have managed to document several different species of Cicadas in Massachusetts. Those being Tibicen auletes, Tibicen lyricen, Tibicen canicularis, Tibicen chloromera and Okanagana rimosa. Massachusetts even has Periodical Cicadas from Brood XIV which is a 17 year variety.
Since 2004, Okanagana rimosa has proved to be an elusive little insect. Fortunately, in the summer of 2007 shortly after my return trip from the mid west to study Brood XIII periodical cicadas, I did in fact find a sustainable population of Okanagana rimosa in a town in central Massachusetts known as Montague. More information on this interesting periodic-like little insect can be found here.
Also Brood XIV periodical Cicadas, a species of Cicadas that emerge once every 17 years also makes an appearance in Massachusetts along Cape Cod, Barnstable Plymouth counties. These are not scheduled to appear here until 2008.
So if you would like to know more about cicadas in MA and New England, visit this site.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Last day to register to vote
Every vote counts.
Make sure you are registered.
If you are not going to be in town for the vote on June 10th, obtain an absentee ballot from the Town Clerk.
Ashland voted on their override yesterday and the margin was 49 votes.
Every vote counts.
Make sure your cast your vote on June 10th!
Make sure you are registered.
If you are not going to be in town for the vote on June 10th, obtain an absentee ballot from the Town Clerk.
Ashland voted on their override yesterday and the margin was 49 votes.
Every vote counts.
Make sure your cast your vote on June 10th!
Budget Hearing Postponed
GHS
FRANKLIN —
After meeting for 25 minutes last night, the Town Council unanimously voted to postpone the first of two public hearings on the fiscal 2009 budget because it could not be televised.
Council Chairman Christopher Feeley made the motion, saying, "I think it needs to be televised."
"We apologize to the public and are rectifying the situation by postponing the meeting," Feeley said.
The council continued the hearing to 7:05 tonight, and will likely continue the second hearing, originally planned for tonight, to Thursday.
So if you did try to find the meeting on cable last night and didn't, know you know why.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here.
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