Live reporting - Town Council

Present: Kelly, Jones, Vallee, Whalen, Mason, Pfeffer, Zollo, Powderly
Absent: McGann



A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – November 17, 2010
motion to approve, passed 8-0

B. ANNOUNCEMENTS 

none
C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS
none

D. CITIZEN COMMENTS 
none

E. APPOINTMENTS 
none


G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS 
none

H. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS 
none

I. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS 
none

J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION 
5. Resolution 10-74: Appropriation – Capital 2011


Finance Committee approved 9-0
motion to approve,  seconded


Capital Subcommittee met several nights, first time where we have had over 2.1 million in free cash
we are only proposing 800,000 for capital; holding back some for the snow/ice and for unemployment expenses (pending layoffs if an override for FY 2012 doesn't pass).


will add doc from MA DOR on "free cash"
free cash has gone down from over 5% to just over 2% an indication of better management of the voerall budget process
the free cash percent of budget is below the state average


This is the smallest capital budget in a long time.
Police, Fire equipment, money for roads, some items for the schools


Whalen - concerned about the amount being so low, will there be more need next year?
Nutting - DPW didn't ask for any vehicles this year, maybe they will next year; Fire Dept has a truck need that we need to speed up the funding for, School have some requirements that are being addressed


Kelly - thanks to all the departments for coming forward with their needs, putting their wants aside


Mason - thanks to the committee for the hard work. We are accused of not tightening our belt, this is indeed 


Passed 8-0, unanimous via roll call


7. Resolution 10-76: Authorization to Borrow – Repairs & Remodeling to Various School Buildings 
motion to approve, seconded


The capital committee did recommend this as well as the FINCOM. It is a pretty boring list. Covering electrical and heating requirements, etc around the schools


We have room in our debt capacity for putting this on line in 2013, almost 500,000 of debt capacity
proposal to pay it off over ten years and tweak it accordingly


keep our biggest investment up to date


Jones - this is one of those investments in the school system to keep the facilities functioning properly


Vallee - Are you concerned about our debt?
Nutting  - are debt is actually declining, we will not use this for a couple of years. we will have room


The rating agencies like to see no more than a specific level we are well under that, they also like to see investment in infrastructure so we don't face these bills all at once


Mason - some of these items have been put off for years but the time has come


Passed 8-0 via roll call








Franklin, MA

Weight is a key measure

When I volunteered to help the Franklin Food Pantry for the "Stamp Out Hunger" food drive in May, I learned that the weight of food in and out of the pantry is one of the key measures. All food purchased or donated to the pantry is weighed. The total weights are recorded as a measure of how much was processed.

The freshness dates, or 'use by dates' are also checked. If the date has not expired, the food is kept. If the date has expired, the food is tossed into the trash. (Yes, this still bothers me and I don't fully understand all the rules and regulations on this matter so I won't spend much more time on it here. Research is underway to help understand the hows and whys.)

The pounds in less the pounds of 'spoilage' equal the net receipts. For the Saturday in May when the Franklin Post Office delivered all the food collected in their rounds of mail delivery,  the Pantry netted 3,869.5 pounds of food. The total received was 4,746.7 of which 877.2 was out dated and tossed aside.

Compared to the one day in May, the month of November yielded over 24,000 pounds of food from a variety of sources. The summary of services provided for the month and an outline of where the Food Pantry is headed is contained in this handout provided to folks who stopped by during the Open House at last week's Holiday Stroll:

Franklin Food Pantry - November 2010 Status


If you would like to help, these are the items that the Pantry can use at this time.

• Cleaning Products - Laundry, Dish, Disinfecting etc.
• Paper Products - Toilet Paper, Kleenex, Napkins, Paper Towels etc.
• Health & Beauty Care - Shampoo, Soap, Razors, Deodorant, Feminine, Hand Sanitizer etc.
• Cereal
• Broth
• Beef stew
• Potatoes (can or dry)
• Flavored rice and/or pasta mixes
• Canned pasta (chef boyardeeish)
• Baking mixes
• Spices
• Crackers
• Jelly
• Canvas bags

If the food has a freshness date, please check to see that it is current before making your donation. This will save time for the volunteers as they weigh, sort and stock the shelves before the food is distributed.

You can also make a monetary donation directly through the Pantry website via Google Checkout. You don't need a Google account to use this to process your transaction securely.



Note: I am volunteering some of my time as Community Information Director for the Franklin Food Pantry.

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to Franklin MAtters to view the document

Franklin, MA

In the News - response times, Adirondack holiday fair, handbell concert

Rescue response times to edges of Franklin not good

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Brian Benson/Daily News staff

Adirondack Club hosts Holiday Fair

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

Franklin Federated Church to host handbell concert

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

Franklin, MA

FM #79 - Slidecast - Tax Hearing Info for FY 2011

This internet radio show or podcast is number 79 in the series for Franklin Matters.


In this session, you give me about ten minutes (actually 13 in this case) and I'll fill you in on what matters in Franklin.

Franklin, MA 2011 Tax Rate Information

View more webinars from Franklin Matters.

Show notes:


In particular, we'll prepare for the Town Council meeting Wednesday, Dec 8th, 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 (1) to keep a single tax rate or decides to implement a split tax rate and (2) sets the actual 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 updating my files with historical data on Franklin's budget, tax rate, etc.


I have updates last year's slides to share information that I think will help us all understand the overall situation.


Page 2 shows how the tax rate is calculated. Starting with the levy limit from 2010, 2.5% is added. Based upon Prop 2.5%, up to this amount can be added without a special override election. The growth from last year is added. This provides a subtotal. Any prior debt exclusions are added and this provides the maximum levy limit. We can technically achieve this due to rounding factors on the rates. So we have what they call an “excess levy capacity” of $35, 647. This leaves us with the tax levy, the amount that Franklin is authorized to raise this year. The amount is divided by the total assessed values of all the residential, commercial, industrial and personal property.


The package has a number of pages devoted to the property analysis of the residential, CIP to get to this value. The major factor to remember is that due to the overall economic conditions, property values are declining. Divide any number by a declining number and the percent will increase.


Page 3 shows the tax rate as it has varied throughout the years from 1988 to 2011. 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 dropped for ten years in a row (from its peak in 1997), has gone up for the past 4 years, and yet all you hear about is our tax problem?


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 4 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 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, 2010 and for FY 2011, 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 4.1 billion for FY 2011. With less of a 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, 2010 and will do so again in 2011.


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 2010. 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.


Page 6 - 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 7 shows the same numbers in a chart format. As there is so little variance, I think this more clearly depicts the small range that the commercial/industrial and residential split has had over the years.


Why did I spend time on the CI vs Residential split? 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 8. 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. The Economic Summit held at the former Putnam facility on Washington is a key example of this effort. 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. In particular, the residential growth we have seen recently has been mostly in the rental unit arena and that is even worse for Franklin than a single family home. We need healthy growth in CI properties to provide tax revenues and provide some jobs for local residents.


Page 9 provides information on the sources of the data that I used to prepare this.
Page 10 provides my 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. 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.




For the week ahead:


Town Council meeting Wednesday


Cyberbullying event at Dean College on Thursday. Perry Aftab and the teenangels from the Franklin School District will be presenting an information for parents on bullying.


I would encourage you to participate in these events.


Thank you for listening!


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 and Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission

I hope you enjoy!

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to Franklin Matters to view this slidecast.



Franklin, MA

"one of the issues is no one can tell us what the ballpark is"

Jessica Strunkin, manager of public policy and public affairs for the 495 MetroWest Partnership, said she would like to see businesses and government work together to solve the problem.

"I think some type of collaborative approach would be more efficient," Strunkin said after the meeting. "Everyone can pool their resources and it might cost less."

Jack Lank, president of the United Regional Chamber of Commerce, said public outreach will be key to coming up with a manageable funding plan.

"I think (a stormwater utility) is almost inevitable," he said after the meeting. "No matter how we look at it, this is an unfunded mandate and we're going to be footing the bill."

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News


Prior posts on the proposed EPA regulations about storm water

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/08/epa-storm-water-proposal-information.html

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/06/epa-storm-water-proposal-information.html

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/05/epa-storm-water-proposal-information.html



Franklin, MA

"Official statistics underestimate obesity"

From Business Insider we find these 15 shocking facts about obesity:

Obesity is reaching epidemic proportions. It’s the plague of the 21st century.

Meanwhile, America’s become so politically correct that it’s almost impossible to discuss the ”sensitive” issue in depth. Official statistics underestimate obesity, and interest groups are content this issue isn’t addressed properly.

Insider Monkey, your source for free insider trading data, compiled 15 shocking facts that you didn’t know about obesity.

Click here to see the facts >

Franklin, MA

In the News - tax rate, Beaver St, recreation, musician, angels

Franklin to vote on tax rate

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Brian Benson/Daily News staff

Franklin looks to clarify who can use transfer station

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Brian Benson/Daily News staff

Medway, Franklin recreation cooperation going well

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Brian Benson/Daily News staff

Franklin musicians help charities

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Brian Benson/Daily News staff

Angels get to work in Franklin to help those in need

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Heather McCarron/Daily News correspondent

Franklin, MA