FM Budget Workshop Part 2 - 1/25/10

Franklin held conducted a budget workshop on Monday, Jan 25, 2010. This is part two of the session recording. Susan Gagner, Town Comptroller, continues her presentation reviewing pages 3, 4 and 5.
Page 3 - The six year estimated receipts history; Page 4 - The six year State Assessment history; Page 5 - The Franklin Budget breakdown

Time: 14 minutes, 52 seconds




MP3 File

Session notes:

Susan Gagner - The six year estimated receipts history

Susan Gagner - The six year State Assessment history

Susan Gagner - The Franklin Budget breakdown

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Thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit FranklinMAtters.blogspot.com/

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!

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to the website to listen to the audio version.

Live reporting from the workshop can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-special-meeting-budget.html

and here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-budget-workshop.html

Part 1 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/fm-budget-workshop-12510-part-1.html

FM #56 - Week ending 1/31/10

This is #56 in the series on what matters in Franklin, MA. This session covers the Busget Hearing and the School Committee meeting of the past week and looks ahead to the Finance Comm and Town Council meetings this week.


Time: 10 minutes, 14 seconds



MP3 File

Session notes:




This internet radio show or podcast is number 56 in the series for Franklin Matters.


Take about ten minutes to keep current with what matters in Franklin, MA as the week ends January 31, 2010


In this session I’ll cover the Budget Workshop on Monday, Jan 25 and the School Committee meeting on Tuesday January 26, 2010


I'll also review changes to the Facebook group for Franklin Matters and the introduction of Franklin Matters Weekly.


Monday night, the budget workshop was held at the municipal bldg. Jeff Nutting credited Maureen Sabolinski with the idea to get folks together to review the basics of the budget and the process rather than having to do it three times, once each for the Town Council, School committee and the Finance Committee.


A great idea. It was well attended. The new folks from the TC and SC were there, I think everyone from FINCOM was there. There were also a few other citizens; an FHS teacher, A DPW worker, and and “average joe” citizen.


The presentation started with Susan Gagner, Town Comptroller reviewing the details of the town incomes and expenses. Very well done. Jim Dacey, Treasurer/Collector reviewed debt and interest rate side of the Town business.


The group took a break for some refreshments and conversation. It seemed too short on conversation as we got called back together to review the School budget. Maureen Sabolinski and Miriam Goodman took the lead, then handed off to Sally Winslow and Beth Fitzmaurice to cover the Special Ed nuances.


After 3 hours of good info, solid Q&A, we broke for the evening. I did record the workshop and will be releasing sections of the meeting for others to listen in and learn what we all did.


Some of the documents have been posted to the website for viewing and printing should you want your own copy.


Watch FM for additional segments as they are released.


Two main takeways from the School Committee meeting Tuesday evening. One the budget history for the past several years was presented. This was effectively the same document reviewed during the budget workshop on Monday. This is not correct. Although I recorded it that way, the two presentations are indeed separate. The School Committee presentation is posted and does cover the historical aspects of the school budget. The presentation from the workshop is not yet posted but will be as I get to that section of the recording.


The School Committee also started a discussion on setting priorities or ground rules for considering what programs would be cut should it come to that to balance the budget. Sue Rohrbach did a good job starting the discussion and laying out some topic for consideration. She had not prioritized them, that would be a next step to do so. By the time the remaining members of the committee weighed in on items to add, it wasn't really a list that could be called a short one, it seemed to me like everything the schools did was now added to the list.


On the one hand, it shows how serious the budget situation is, there are no sacred cows. Everything is on the table.


On the other hand, with everything on the table, the SC does need to get to the next level of determining some criteria for prioritizing the cuts. I think what they have thus far is not better than what they had earlier.


A copy of the presentation is available on Franklin matters


As I have said here before, the next several months will be very interesting. Franklin citizens can provide and should their input to the charter (how we conduct our business), the downtown project (how we will get in and around downtown), and ultimately the Franklin budget (which will effect everyone because of the services that we all receive from it, altho admittedly, some receive more than others.). If you were waiting for a good time to get involved, the time is now.


In recognition that time your time is short, I have created a separate webpage to post the weekly review. For those who just want the facts, a la Sgt Joe Friday from Dragnet, you can subscribe to FM Weekly and all you will get will be the weekly summary once a week. It should clean up your email and help you stay current.


If you want all the details, stay here at FM and you'll continue to get all that I can learn and share about Franklin.


I still need to attend the meetings, take the notes, etc. in order to produce the weekly so there won;t be any change on the FM front. You'll still get everything without a change.


The addition is the FM weekly for you or one of your neighbors, who just wants the short skinny, they can get it.


On Facebook, there is a group for Franklin Matters. I have created a “fan page” for FM and will be posting new info there, eventually removing the group. What's the difference? The fan page is more like your Facebook profile page and easier to manage for me. No change in content just in the location where you can obtain it.


Looking ahead, there is a FINCOM meeting on Tuesday. They are scheduled to look at the capital budget and begin to make some decisions on what if anything we can do on the capital side.


The Town Council meets on Wednesday. Spruce Pond Creamery is up for a liquor license and then the Council has a couple of items of legislation to approve, one to fund the trash totters or new bins that we discussed last time;  two, to clean up some outstanding debt authorizations that we don't need at this time.


As I close this session this week, let me remind you that

• If you like what I am doing, please tell your neighbors
• If you don’t like something, please tell me

Thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit FranklinMAtters.blogspot.com/

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!

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to the website to listen to the audio version.

Finance Committee - Agenda - 2/2/2010

Balances as of December 2009

Gen Stab 4,593,427
PW Stab 129,321
Debt Stab 378,688
Traffic Stab 21,327
Overlay Surplus - 0 -
Free Cash 2,173,842

Call to Order

Citizens Comments

Approval of Minutes

Discussion 
Capital Improvement Plan 2010

Technology – Town/School Tim Rapoza, Maureen Sabolinski
Facilities – Town/School Mike D’Angelo
School Vans – Mike D’Angelo
Police – Chief Williams
Fire – Chief McCarraher
DPW – Brutus Cantoreggi

Old Business

New Business

Adjournment

Town Council - Agenda - 2/3/2010

A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – January 6, 2010

B. ANNOUNCEMENTS

C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS

D. CITIZEN COMMENTS

E. APPOINTMENTS

F. HEARINGS

G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS - Application for a New Wine & Malt License – Spruce Pond Creamery

H. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS

I. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS

J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION
• Resolution 10-85: Authorization to Expend Funds in Excess of Available Appropriations
• Resolution 10-86: Authorization to Borrow for the Purchase of Trash Totters
• Resolution 10-87: Rescission of Authorization to Borrow – Municipal Off-Street Parking
• Resolution 10-88: Rescission of Authorization to Borrow – Purchase of Street Lights

K. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT

L. OLD BUSINESS

M. NEW BUSINESS

N. COUNCIL COMMENTS

O. EXECUTIVE SESSION – Negotiations, Litigation, Real Property, as May Be Required

P. ADJOURN

Budget Workshop Collection - 1/25/10

Franklin held conducted a budget workshop on Monday, Jan 25, 2010.  This is the collection of live reporting and audio recordings from the workshop.


Live reporting from the workshop can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-special-meeting-budget.html

and here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-budget-workshop.html


Parts 1 through 4 cover the Town portion of the budget with Jeff Nutting, Susan Gagner and Jim Dacey leading the discussion.

Part 1 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/fm-budget-workshop-12510-part-1.html

Part 2 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-2-12510.html

Part 3 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-3-12510.html

Part 4 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-4-1252010.html


Parts 5 through 8 cover the Schools portion of the budget with Maureen Sabolinski, Miriam Goodman, Sally Winslow, and Beth Fitzmaurice leading the discussion.

Part 5 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-5-12510.html


Part 6 of the workshop recording can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-6-12510.html

Part 7 of the workshop recording can be found here

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-7-12510.html

Part 8 of the workshop recording can be found here

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-8-12510.html

In Part 9, Jeff Nutting provides some closing remarks and Bob Richer (citizen at large) provides some good feedback on the session.

The final segment, Part 9 of the workshop recording, can be found here

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/fm-budget-workshop-part-9-final-12510.html

In the News - Haiti, cyberbullying

Network needed for aid in Haiti

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Ashley Studley/Daily News staff

The New England Chapel is located in Franklin

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Cyberbullying too real for teens

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Abby Jordan/Daily News staff

Teen Angels is a group of middle school students working to raise awareness amongst their peers on cyberbullying. The TeenAngels presented to the School Committee earlier this month. You can see what they did here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-teen-angels.html

and here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/teen-angels-pledge-text-think-send.html

FM - Budget Workshop 1/25/10 - Part 1

Franklin held conducted a budget workshop on Monday, Jan 25, 2010. This is part one of the session. Susan Gagner, Town Comptroller, reviews the first pages of her presentation.

Time: 28 minutes, 30 seconds


MP3 File


The files discussed in this segment of the workshop can be found here

Susan Gagner - Overview Page 1

Susan Gagner - Overview Page 2

Susan Gagner - 6 Year Operating Revenue Summary

Susan Gagner - 6 Year State Aid History

Thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit FranklinMAtters.blogspot.com/

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!

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to the website to listen to the audio version.

Budget workshop documents

The documents from the Budget Workshop held on Monday, Jan 25, 2010 can be found stored within a folder on Google Docs. You should be able to view the files and print each individual PDF on your printer should you want a copy for more detailed review.

The files can be found here

Susan Gagner - Overview Page 1

Susan Gagner - Overview Page 2


Susan Gagner - 6 Year Operating Revenue Summary

Susan Gagner - 6 Year State Aid History


Susan Gagner - 6 Year Estimated Local Receipts


Susan Gagner - 6 Year State Assessment History

Susan Gagner - 6 Year Budget Breakdown

Susan Gagner - 6 Year Fixed Cost History

Susan Gagner - School Budget Chapter 70 History

Susan Gagner - Net School Spending - Page 1

Susan Gagner - Net School Spending - Page 2

The files uploaded and available now are from the presentation by Susan Gagner, Franklin Town Comptroller. I will be adding the remaining files as time allows.

I want to share the recording of the presentation and discussion from this workshop and will be releasing sections of the workshop as time permits.

Note: as is was checking the files to ensure that you would be able to view them without a Google Account, I did see an error - "Sorry we are unable to retrieve the document for viewing. Please try again later." I was able to refresh and view the document on the second try.

Gov Patrick's budget for FY 2011

Gov Patrick released his budget on time. The budget home page can be found here:

The full process steps starting with the release of the Governor's budget can be found here

There is a budget guide to read about how to find out what you want to know. The guide can be found here

The home page for the FY 2011 budget can be found here

Respectfully, this is a whole lot of good information.

What does it mean for Franklin? 
The key dollars for the Franklin budget comes in the Local Aid section

The totals for FY 2011 proposed by Governor Patrick are:

Municipality	Chapter 70	Unrestricted General  Government Aid

FRANKLIN	$28,371,695	$2,177,055

This totals to $30,548, 750 which is $852,318 less than the $31,401,068 Franklin received for FY 2010.

What does this mean? Too earlier to tell. This is only the first step in the long State budget process. It is not good that we are starting with less than last year. I don't think it likely that either the House or Senate will increase what the Governor has already proposed, but that is my two cents.

What comes next?

• The House Ways and Means Committee reviews the Governor's budget and then develops its own recommendation.

• Individual representatives submit budget amendments which are then debated on the House floor.  Once debated, amended and voted on by the full House, it becomes the final House budget bill and moves to the Senate.

• The Senate Ways & Means Committee reviews both the Governor's and House budgets and develops its own recommendation.

• Individual representatives submit budget amendments which are then debated on the Senate floor.  Once debated, amended and voted on, it becomes the final Senate's budget bill.

• State Finance law requires the Governor to submit budget revisions to his proposed budget if revenue forecasts predict a shortfall after the original submission.

• House and Senate leadership assign members to a "conference committee" to negotiate the differences between the House and Senate bills. The conference committee report can only be approved or rejected - no additional amendments can be made.

• Once approved by both chambers of the Legislature, the Governor has ten days to review it. The Governor may approve or veto the entire budget, or may veto or reduce particular line items or sections, but may not add anything.

• The House and Senate may vote to override the Governor's vetoes. Overrides require a two-thirds roll-call vote in each chamber.

• The final budget is also known as the General Appropriations Act (GAA) or "Chapter xxx of the Acts of 2010."

All of this should happen by June 30th in order to start the fiscal year on July 1.


Stay tuned in to the budget discussions. 

Franklin has a similar process. Each department prepares their budget. It is reviewed by the Town Administrator and presented to the Finance Committee. The Finance Committee hold public hearings to review, adjust and recommend a budget to the Town Council. The Town Council holds budget hearing to solicit input from any interested Franklin residents before voting on a budget. Franklin also needs to pass a budget to begin operations on the new fiscal year July 1.

How cold is it?

very cold, as evidenced by the frosted windows at Berry Insurance on Friday morning

Democratic Party donation

Michael Walker Jones (center), Chairman of the Franklin Democratic Party, presented a check for $200 to a teacher (left) representing the Franklin High School Democrat's Club. School Committee Chair, Jeff Roy (right) observed.

Now at your service

Let's face it, you are busy. Time is short.

You may not have time to read all that is posted here.

Yes, there is a whole lot happening and I do post quite a bit.

But you'd still like to keep up with what matters in Franklin.

Now you have two new options.


1 - Franklin Matters Weekly
Once a week, I'll post the summary of what has happened the prior week with a brief look at the week ahead. You can subscribe to this new site via email or RSS Feed or iTunes

Franklin Matters Weekly can be found here:
http://franklinmattersweekly.blogspot.com/


2 -  Facebook Fan page

Along with this move to the weekly version, I will eventually disable the Facebook group. But no worry, there already is a new fan page - "I believe Franklin, MA Matters" to join or become a "fan" of.

You can search on Facebook for Franklin Matters, follow this link or visit the new Franklin Matters Weekly and find the Facebook widget to take to you the new Facebook page.


What won't change?
The attention to detail in posting here from the Town Council, School Committee, Finance Committee and other important town events will continue.

If you want all the details on all that matters, stay here. You'll still get notification that the weekly summary is ready. You won't miss anything.

But for those who want the shorty and skinny version, Franklin Matters Weekly is now available just for that purpose.

As I close this posting, let me remind you that

• If you like what I am doing, please tell your neighbors
• If you don’t like something, please tell me

Thank you for stopping by to read!

Winter Street

This street is well named for the conditions as I was walking home Thursday evening.

 

It was a pleasant walk. Everything around was sugar coated and white again!

School Preliminary Budget - FY 2011

The presentation document was added to the post for Tuesday evening's School Committee meeting and copied here to save you clicking through to find it.

Franklin Public Schools - FY2011 - Budget Discussion

View more presentations from Steve Sherlock.

For the text to accompany this document, click through here

In the News - high school renovation planning moves along

Take a step at a time and you make progress towards your goal. With the selection of a project manager, one that has worked with the Town on other major projects (Fire station, Senior Center, etc.), the next step is to select an architect.

Franklin inches closer to renovating high school

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Ashley Studley/Daily News staff

Senator-elect Scott Brown plans for six 'Citizen Open House' events

U.S. Senator-elect Scott Brown today announced the dates and locations for a series of "Citizen Open Houses" starting this Friday in Chicopee.

In a press release, Brown's office said the senator-elect would make six stops over three days to thank the people of Massachusetts for his victory in last week's special Senate election. He invited all members of the public to attend.

"We won this election thanks to the grassroots support of the people, and I want to personally show how much I appreciate that support and tell them that I will always strive to be an independent voice in Washington," said Brown.

The open houses scheduled include:
Friday, Jan. 29, at noon at the Hu Ke Lau restaurant, 705 Memorial Drive, Chicopee
Friday, Jan 29 at 7 p.m. at the Falmouth Inn, 824 Main St., Falmouth.

Saturday, Jan. 30, at 1 p.m. at the Kowloon Restaurant, 948 Broadway Street – Rt. 1 North, in Saugus
Saturday, 3:30 p.m. at Lenzi's Catering, 810 Merrimack Ave. – Rt. 110, Dracut.
Saturday, 6 p.m. at the Maxwell–Silverman Restaurant, 25 Union St., Worcester.

Sunday, Jan. 31 at 5 p.m. at Christina's Function Facility, 2 Washington St. – Rt. 1, Foxboro.

Horace Mann/Oak St complex closed today due to gas leak

Heard via a phone call from Mrs Sherlock (who teaches at Oak St) and then confirmed with the Franklin Fire Dept Twitter update.

Thayer Scoreboard Restored

Updated 1/27/10 12:25 PM - The scheduled presentation has been canceled for today. When the new date/time has been finalized, it will be posted here.


A letter from Glenn Jones:

The Davis Thayer School has had an antique scoreboard hanging in the corner of the gym unused for over 30 years. It dates back some 50 years or more. I spoke with a gentleman who claims it worked when he went to the DT 50 yrs ago. It was slated to be thrown away, but I took it upon my self to remove the old scoreboard and refurbish it. With some great help and contributions, I have been able to restore it back to it original grandeur.

I will be presenting it back to the Davis Thayer School on Wednesday January 27^th @ 2pm.

All are welcome to come and see history come back to life.

Thanks Glenn! Wish I could be there myself.

All photos provided by Glenn:

work in progress

 

The finished product with the lights on

 

The finished product in daylight