The Finance Committee approved the budget put forward for Fiscal Year 2013 on Wednesday evening. The total of $102,179,773 provides the same level of service with no program reductions and no increase in school fees. Some fees on the Town side of the budget were previously approved and their revenue is accounted for.
The refinancing effort of current debt to lower the interest cost will be beneficial especially in the area of the debt exclusions. The lower interest rates were announced during the meeting as the bond sales was held on Tuesday. The final impact to the dollar amounts overall will be available later.
While the FinCom approved the total budget, they did not explicitly approve the transfer of the $350,000 from the stabilization fund for use in the budget. I expect that approval to be scheduled for their May meeting next week. Their vote on the matter is usually an input to the Town Council for their deliberation and vote.
The collection of posts from the Finance Committee budget hearing are found here:
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/04/live-reporting-finance-committee-budget.html
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/04/live-reporting-fincom.html
The summary budget documents referenced can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/04/franklin-ma-fy-2013-budget-documents.html
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Franklin music students win gold
Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:
via The Milford Daily News News RSS by Staff reports on 4/25/12
The Franklin Middle Schools Combined String Orchestra and the Franklin Repertory String Orchestra both took home gold medals from the regional three-day Massachusetts Instrumental & Choral Conductors Association (MICCA) festival.
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- Subscribe to The Milford Daily News News RSS using Google Reader
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Summer Glee
Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:
via Lifelong Learning by Pandora Carlucci on 4/25/12
April 25, 2012 This summer the Music Department and Lifelong Learning are offering Summer "Glee" for students entering grades 4 and 5, and Teen Summer "Glee" for students entering grades 7 to 9. Students will experience singing in a choral setting where they will learn and practice their singing techniques. The summer music "Glee" camp will include "Glee" music from the TV show, as well as other pop music hits to be performed in a concert at the end of the music camp. The "Glee" camp will meet from July 23 to August 3 at Franklin High School. Register online at www.franklin.k12.ma.us, select Lifelong from the top gold banner, select Summer program, select Summer music. Come and be a part of this fun and musical experience.
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Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Live reporting - FinCom
Citizens Comments - none
Approval of Minutes - none
Action Items:
Appropriations: $151,114 – Wages (Contract Settlement) Source: FY 12 Additional State Aid
Of the 9 unions in negotiation, we have four tentative agreements
This amount may cover all the nine settlements when the Council approves them next week
The money is coming from the extra State allocation provided last October, 2011
(add link to announcement to tie back) not in free cash but if not used, could end up in free cash
Exact line item to be determined, once the agreements get finalized, the line items
the money would be a one time payment to the employees not increasing their base, hence not in the FY 2013 budget
Motion to approve, passed 6-0
Revenues
budget subcommittee discussion on the $350
will be coming back from the stabilization account rather than free cash
Tax levy is what it is
state aid is determined by the State
combination of past collections, expectations, some are seasonal
take a deduction to create a safety net
motor vehicle excise will come in as expected
DOR won't allow forecast higher than collected the prior year, allowing within 10% of estimations
need to work within a narrow band that is fiscally prudent
we can increase a revenue if the Council votes to increase rates
action needs to justify the revenues
Question on the tax levy amount used to set the 2.5% and forecast for FY 2013
need to exclude the debt exclusion amounts from the levy base to calculate the 2.5% increase
we are getting a lull now, the real crunch will be 2014 when the state faces their numbers issue
approx $340K from meals tax
anything in misc non-recurring can not be counted as an expectation for the next year
interest income is really hitting the bottom, it is good for borrowing
other excise, is the hotel, motel we use in the non-operational accounts but it is in there
Q - If we do get extra money from the State, what would we do with it?
A - I think we would go with the Schools to avoid the draw down of the reserves
this budget is 99% to bed,I am already thinking of 2014
I'd like to cover the Schools as they are almost 60% of the budget and driving the bus
We get $52M in tax revenue with the levy, we have gotten cut $3M in state aid. Our days of big numbers from the state are long gone.
We have 20% less employees than we had years ago, you've seen the numbers on all the departments, they are all doing an excellent job. When you at rock bottom you will face difficulty
Schools going up 1.6 the levy is going up 2.1
Reading line item by line item for approval, seconded, passing 6-0
if any one of these differs, it will be noted.
The line items correspond to the following document
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B0wjbnXDBhczMmdIMjB1NENGOEk
Comment from Feldman about the Library and while there is an increase this year, what will happen next year?
Side note Bruins are loosing 1-0 to the Capitals
Bond sale, note sale and refunding sale occured today
AA stable reafirmed
105 day note for 2.5M at .3681%
1.76% came it from 7 bids
refinance bonds some of the Keller Sullivan will come off the debt exclusion amount
exact amounts on the refinancing will come in in a couple of days
motion to adjourn
Live reporting - Finance Committee - Budget Hearing
Present: Roche, Quinn, Messere, Feldman, Goldsmith, Dufour
Absent: Dewsnap, Smith, Huempfner
Budget Hearing
Education – Franklin Public Schools C-1
Miriam Goodman, Maureen Sabolinski, Paula Mullen, Sue Rohrbach, Sally Winslow
presentation may be available later
review of expectations on revenue for the School Budget
coming in at 52,170,000 which was the Town Administrator recommended number
$1,650,000 increase over prior year
health care costs and contractual obligations for employees are two key drivers
$850K loss of revenue due to expiration of Federal Funds
$916K due to contract increase
Franklin versus state average $10,693 vs $13,371 lower in every category
Q&A
The Schools are drawing down some of their revolving funds to meet this budget total
No increase in fees for buses or athletics
$3.3 million in revolving accounts as a balance (from fees and transportation items)
Money from this year transportation fees, circuit breaker, etc is used for next years budget
Circuit breaker increase helps to offset the special education out of district placements
differences among the individual school budgets due to population and teacher placement
principals get an allocation per pupil for their discretionary use
Teachers at the middle and high school cost more than a new elementary teacher
Reallocation of instructional materials some of which are covered by capital budget items, to use the budget funds for classroom teachers
Parents are partners in this, either individually or through the PCC's, the support is essential to the success of our program
Keller parents were doing mulching and flowers today, the community value of that is priceless
Administration 51% below state average, we can be having too many administrators if that is the case
Secretarial agreement came in with an increase of days worked during the school year to bring them over three years to the full school year. This year coming is when the agreement and days increase finishes
Fees generally come in about as forecast, we shouldn't see too much of a change there
Only curriculum changes are due to the state changes, aligning the grade level frameworks to meet standards. No program level reductions or eliminations this year.
We do need a principal at each school, especially with all the paperwork and other things they do
ECDC runs a tuition based program, this is used to offset the educational assistance
The change noted is more due to accounting for the funds than a significant change
Pay-to-ride using some of the reserves not that they are getting additional riders
Absent: Dewsnap, Smith, Huempfner
Budget Hearing
Education – Franklin Public Schools C-1
Miriam Goodman, Maureen Sabolinski, Paula Mullen, Sue Rohrbach, Sally Winslow
review of expectations on revenue for the School Budget
coming in at 52,170,000 which was the Town Administrator recommended number
$1,650,000 increase over prior year
health care costs and contractual obligations for employees are two key drivers
$850K loss of revenue due to expiration of Federal Funds
$916K due to contract increase
Franklin versus state average $10,693 vs $13,371 lower in every category
Q&A
The Schools are drawing down some of their revolving funds to meet this budget total
No increase in fees for buses or athletics
$3.3 million in revolving accounts as a balance (from fees and transportation items)
Money from this year transportation fees, circuit breaker, etc is used for next years budget
Circuit breaker increase helps to offset the special education out of district placements
differences among the individual school budgets due to population and teacher placement
principals get an allocation per pupil for their discretionary use
Teachers at the middle and high school cost more than a new elementary teacher
Reallocation of instructional materials some of which are covered by capital budget items, to use the budget funds for classroom teachers
Parents are partners in this, either individually or through the PCC's, the support is essential to the success of our program
Keller parents were doing mulching and flowers today, the community value of that is priceless
Administration 51% below state average, we can be having too many administrators if that is the case
Secretarial agreement came in with an increase of days worked during the school year to bring them over three years to the full school year. This year coming is when the agreement and days increase finishes
Fees generally come in about as forecast, we shouldn't see too much of a change there
Only curriculum changes are due to the state changes, aligning the grade level frameworks to meet standards. No program level reductions or eliminations this year.
We do need a principal at each school, especially with all the paperwork and other things they do
ECDC runs a tuition based program, this is used to offset the educational assistance
The change noted is more due to accounting for the funds than a significant change
Pay-to-ride using some of the reserves not that they are getting additional riders
Franklin, MA: Finance Committee - Budget Hearing
Town of Franklin
Finance Committee Agenda
Wednesday April 25, 2012
7:00 PM
Municipal Building Council Chambers
(post agenda to web site) (meetings are recorded)
Balances - 2/29/12
Gen Stab 5,118,572
PW Stab 275,332
Traffic Stab 4,559
OPEB Stab 69,367
Overlay Surplus -0-
Free Cash 1,118,676
Call to Order
Citizens Comments
Approval of Minutes
Budget Hearing
Education – Franklin Public Schools C-1
Action Items:
Appropriations: $151,114 – Wages (Contract Settlement) Source: FY 12 Additional State Aid
Old Business
New Business
Adjournment
Important note:
In the overview provided by Town Administrator Jeff Nutting at the beginning of the budget hearings on Apr 3, he does acknowledge the intent to use $350,000 from free cash to support the School Dept budget for FY 2013. This replaces the $350,000 the Town Council took from the School budget in Oct 2011. The use of such 'one time' funds is against the fiscal policy of both the Finance Committee and Town Council. The discussion on this use is sure to be an interesting one.
You can view the video on demand of the Apr 3 budget hearing here: (Jeff's comment occur during the first 11 minutes)
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?ecm=634709304100034131&indexSessionSKU=OQs85NOhWcBJ13Ix9wlbOw%3D%3D&siteSKU=L7qhQ46xin/r3Z0jcDVCNw%3D%3D
Looking for a summer camp in Franklin?
Are you looking for a fun program to send your kids to this summer?
Sunrise Montessori School still has room in their summer camps. Summer camp programs at Sunrise are open to all children, ages 3 to 6. Children do not need to be enrolled in our regular, school-year programs to participate. Our camp day begins at 9:00AM and finishes at 1:00PM. Children should bring a peanut free lunch. Snacks are provided by the camp.
Our programs are developmentally and socially age appropriate for younger children, and the wide variety of exciting themes appeals to their imagination and sense for adventure. We offer flexibility - Children may sign up for one week or several. The cost per week is $160.00 (there is no camp held during July 2 - 6)
Summer 2012 themes are as follows:
Earth Science - June 18 - June 22
Outer Space - June 25 - June 29
Circus - July 9 – July 13
Ancient Egypt – July 16 - July 20
Bubble Mania – July 23 - July 27
Contact Karen Roeber at 508-541-8010 for more information or see www.mysunrisemontessori.com
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