FM #50 - What Matters in Franklin, MA

This segment was joined with a slideshow to create a slidecast. The full production can be found here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2009/11/fm-50-slidecast.html


This internet radio show or podcast is number 50 in the series for Franklin Matters. In this session, you give me about ten minutes and I'll fill you in on what matters in Franklin. In particular, we'll prepare for the Town Council meeting this Wednesday where the big item on the agenda will be the annual tax classification hearing

Time: 10 minutes, 47 seconds



MP3 File

Session Notes:

Music intro
My intro
FM #50

This internet radio show or podcast is number 50 in the series for Franklin Matters.

In this session, you give me about ten minutes and I'll fill you in on what matters in Franklin.

In particular, we'll prepare for the Town Council meeting this Wednesday where the big item on the agenda will be the annual tax classification hearing beginning at 7:10 PM.

This is the time and place where the Town Council determines to keep a single tax rate or decides to implement a split tax rate.

I have reviewed the data provided by the Board of Assessors for this hearing. I have also spent some time on the Dept of Revenue website obtaining some historical data on Franklin's budget, tax rate, etc.

I have prepared a few slides to share some information that I think can help understand the overall situation to get ready for the meeting Wednesday.

Page 2 shows a table showing the residential vs. commercial/industrial property mix since 1999. It has varied a little each year but generally around 80% residential and 20% commercial/industrial. The high point for residential was 82.12 in 1988 and the low point was 77.04 in 1993.

Page 3 shows the same numbers in a chart format. As there is so little variance, I think this is more clear and understandable than the table of numbers.

Page 4 shows the tax rate as it has varied throughout the years from 1988 to 2009. I really shouldn't use a line to depict the point in time number for each year, but it is much easier to view the data this way. The tax rate high point was in 1997 when it was 14.21% and the low point (in the period shown) was 8.86% in 2007. I find it interesting that the tax rate has dropped for nine of the last twelve years and yet all you hear about is our tax problem?

Well, Page 5 more clearly shows what our tax problem is. The numbers on this chart depict the average tax bill for the period 1988 through 2009. As you can see from the reddish bars, in no year did the average tax bill decrease. The tax rate line from Page 4 is also shown here. Clearly, the tax rate whether it goes up or down seems to have little effect on the tax bill. It is always going up.

There are many reasons for the increases shown. I don't have all the information to explain nor do I have the time this week to do so. What I can show on Page 6 is how the assessed value effects the tax rate. The reddish bars in this case depict the NET change in assessed total value of all the properties in Franklin. Since 2006 the commercial industrial (CI) assessed values have been in a decline. In 2006 and 2007, the new grown for CI covered the decline in valuation so there was a net grown for CI. But for 2008, 2009 and for FY 2010, the new growth has not been able to cover the decline in valuation. More importantly, on the residential side, the decline in valuation has far exceeded the new growth. Hence the overall decline in total assessed values has dropped from 4.9 billion in 2007 to 4.3 billion for FY 2010. With less tax base upon which to levy the same amount of tax revenue, guess what, the tax rate will increase. The decline in overall assessed values has driven the increase for 2008, 2009 and will do so again in 2010.

Yes, I can hear some folks now saying “let's go with a split tax rate”. With kind of property mix we have, a split tax does not solve our problem. See, the split tax does not increase overall tax revenues, it only shifts the proportion of the pie that each party pays as shown on Page 7. For a single dollar decrease in residential property tax, the CI increase would need to be $4. We don't need to shift the tax burden from one to another. We need to grow the overall tax base. We need a bigger pie.

The best opportunities for grow come from the underutilized CI space we have. You should be aware of the efforts of Bryan Taberner and others in the Department of Planning and Community Development. They are busy working to market the attractiveness of Franklin for CI uses. This is where we need to develop. We don't need additional residential properties which would further burden the school system. We need healthy growth in CI properties to provide tax revenues and maybe even provide some jobs for local residents.

  

Page 8 and 9 provide information on the sources of the data that I used to prepare this. As well as contact information if you have any questions or would like to review this further.

One page in the appendix that charts the “free cash” to “free cash as a percent of the overall Town budget. At the end of the last council meeting, Judy Pfeffer asked Jeff Nutting for some information on the history behind “free cash”. I expect Jeff to come back with his answer but while I was putting together my analysis, I found these numbers at the MA DOR website that may help answer part of Judy's question. I think the current administration has done very well in reducing the fluctuations that can be seen over the years. The big spike in FY 2001 I believe is likely related to the settlement that the Town won. It ended up in “free cash” before the Town Council moved it to the Stabilization Fund. (Note: It is my mistake that this paragraph of text did not get recorded. It does go along with the one page that did make it to the appendix.)

For the week ahead:

• Finance Committee meeting on Tuesday
• Town Council meeting Wednesday
• Holiday Stroll on Thursday sponsored by the Downtown Partnership

I would encourage you to participate in these events.

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

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but I can't do it alone. I can use your help.

How can you help?

If you like this, please tell a neighbor.

If you don't like this, 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 East of Shirley. The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with permission.

East Central/Cottage Construction Alert

 Just received the phone call from the Franklin Police and the text of the message follows:

Hello. This is the Franklin Police Department calling with a special traffic advisory. The intersection of Route 140 (E Central Street) and Cottage street will be under construction beginning Monday November 30th. There will be limited traffic lanes/access. Please seek alternate routes. Thank you for your understanding.

 

This should be interesting to a Monday morning surprise for some folks, especially those from out of town heading to the train station.

The alert doesn't say when the construction starts. I would guess around 6:00 or 7:00 AM. Hopefully, they'll be done before 4:00 PM to free the intersection for the going home traffic.

What intersection are they talking about?

The one downtown near the railroad bridge. The Rome Restaurant is on one side, Franklin Pizza was on the other (until it just moved further down Cottage).

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East Coast Driving School

The signs on the door and windows announcing the location for East Coast Driving School. They are moving into the Franklin Center Commons building next door to Sarapaan.

Santa on the Town Common at 4:00 PM

Santa Claus is coming to Franklin today

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

For visitors asking where is the Town Common?


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Welcome Natick!

The undefeated Natick High School football team will be coming to Franklin to play on Tuesday, Dec 1 at 7:45 PM



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Good luck to both teams.

Go Panthers!

K12 Online Conference

The K12 Online Conference is around the corner. Here is a cool video clip teaser for the Digital Writers Workshop scheduled to be presented by Jackie Gerstein.



Find more videos like this on K12 Online Conference


What and when is the K12 Online Conference?

The K-12 Online Conference invites participation from educators around the world interested in innovative ways Web 2.0 tools and technologies can be used to improve learning. This FREE conference is run by volunteers and open to everyone. The 2009 conference theme is “Bridging the Divide.” This year’s conference begins with a pre-conference keynote by classroom teacher and international educator Kim Cofinothe week of November 30, 2009. The following two weeks, December 7-11 and December 14-17, over fifty presentations will be posted online to our conference blog and our conference Ning for participants to view, download, and discuss. Live Events in the form of three “Fireside Chats” are listed on the events page of our conference Ning and Facebook fan page, and live events will continue in 2010 through twice-monthly “K-12 Online Echo” webcasts on EdTechTalk. Everyone is encouraged to participate in both live events during and after the conference as well as asynchronous conversations.  Over 122 presentations from 2008, 2007, and 2006 are available, along with archived live events. Follow the K12 Online Conference onTwitter and Facebook!

The K12 Online Conference website can be found here

In the News - performance

The New England Center for the Performing Arts, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization located in Franklin, is hosting a special performance of "Humbug!" for community organizations in the region on Friday Dec. 18, 7:30 p.m., at Thomas D. Mercer Auditorium.

The center will host a special performance of the holiday show for youth groups and individuals with special needs.

Executive Director Raye Lynn Mercer said, "We are thrilled to be able to share this outstanding holiday production with audiences that may not otherwise have the opportunity to attend." 

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here:

Holiday show offered to area youth groups

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by GateHouse Media, Inc.