Showing posts sorted by date for query override, 2008. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query override, 2008. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Tuesday, December 17, 2024

Letter to Joint Budget Subcommittee from Town of Franklin Department Heads - Dec 17, 2024

December 17, 2024

Joint Budget Subcommittee
  • Town Council: Tom Mercer, Brian Chandler, Melanie Hamblen, Cobi Frongillo
  • School Committee: Dave McNeil, Ruthann O'Sullivan, Paul Griffith
  • Finance Committee: George Conley, Natalie Riley, Nicole Corbisiero, Lauren Barnes

Re: FY26 Budget deliberations

Dear Joint Budget Subcommittee:

We are writing to request that the Joint Budget Subcommittee prioritize no further budget cuts or reductions in service to municipal departments as part of Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget deliberations. Any further reductions in service will jeopardize public health and safety, increase revenue loss, create non-compliance with federal, state or local laws and regulations, and diminish the overall quality of life in Franklin. Given that many of the budget meetings this past fiscal year went late into the night, with significant public feedback, we as department heads feel we have not had an opportunity to speak at length about our own departmental budgets and what cuts and/or reductions will do to our operations and the services we provide to the residents of Franklin. With that said, we thought a letter to the Committee may be more appropriate, productive, and efficient.

At the September 11, 2024 and October 23, 2024 Joint Budget Subcommittee meetings, as well as in other public meetings of individual committees, there has been mention of detailing specific cuts to the municipal budget, but no mention of detailing the schools. We believe the Town Administrator has already laid out the next level of cuts as part of his presentation in June and further discussion on this matter is ill conceived and unproductive.

At the June 26, 2024 Town Council meeting, the Town Administrator went through the exercise of outlining four tiers of proposed reductions in various budgets across municipal departments to be rerouted to the School Department in an effort to help plug the School's structural deficit. We commend the Town Council, Town Administration, Finance and Human Resources staff for working diligently to identify departmental redundancies to creatively streamline services and cut almost $1.2 million of expenses out of the municipal budget to be transferred to the school budget, while also minimizing the impact to core services and staffing. As illustrated in the presentation, Tiers 2 through 4 would cut an additional $3 +/- million from municipal departments to be transferred to the schools.

Now that the Town is entering FY26 budget discussions with a projected $3.9 million structural budget deficit based on current assumptions, we would like to briefly outline the consequences of an additional $3 million in cuts. At a minimum, the scale of these conceived cuts would have the following impacts:

Significantly jeopardize the public safety of Franklin. With reductions to police officers, firefighters, paramedics and public infrastructure, any further cuts would have remarkable and irreversible effects on a myriad of issues from traffic enforcement to response times of police, fire, and ambulances services, as well as snow and ice removal, tree trimming, street lighting, pedestrian safety and signage. Further cuts to these departments risk the accreditation of both the Franklin Police Department and certified IS0-1 Fire Department (which the DPW has a significant role in as well). Call volume has skyrocketed and expectations are higher for public safety and public works. Further cuts undermine these trends;

A counterproductive decline in ''Local Receipt" revenues. Local Receipts are revenues generated by departments and offset the costs of town staff salaries and expenses for services (many of which are required in state laws). Cutting smaller departments such as Administration, Assessors, Town Clerk, Elections, Planning, Conservation, Building/Inspections, the Senior Center, Recreation, and the Library reduces invaluable Town services and, in turn, reduces revenue to the Town. Town staff have worked tirelessly through the past five years to rebound from the pandemic revenue losses;

A decrease in "New Growth" tax base. With fewer staff to administer land use projects or home improvement permits, permitting could slow down potential projects that constitute "New Growth" and help grow the tax base. Franklin has seen a drop in New Growth of almost 35% in the past five years due to market forces. Any cuts to the general administration of the Town could further reduce this revenue source;

Noncompliance with federal, state and local regulatory compliance. Town staff perform a great deal of mandated regulatory compliance as outlined in state laws. The federal and state government are placing greater responsibilities, statutory requirements, and mandates on local governments. If cuts occur to our permitting departments, the Town Clerk's office, and/or finance staff, or Administration, the Town risks timely compliance related to grants, elections, permits, building code, health inspections, licensing, public records, the Department of Revenue and much more;

Exposing the Town's AAA Bond rating to a downgrade, raising interest rates for borrowing and eating up a greater part of the budget pie when the Town borrows for projects like the Remington-Jefferson remodel, Police Station and Horace Mann roof replacement;

A loss of quality programming, decimation of community lifelines, reduction in the quality of public amenities, inclusive of open space, conservation and recreation areas, and the fracture of cultural and historical pillars. The deprivation of these community cornerstones predominantly affects our most vulnerable residents. Elimination of these programs that engage and create the entire community will result in reduced resources for community connection and mental health services to individuals and families of all ages. In the wake of the failed override, many residents called for the closure, or reduction of hours, at the Public Library, Senior Center, Recreation Department and more. Any reduction in these services would have substantial impacts on the mental health and quality of life in our community; and 

significant impacts to recruitment, retention, reform and staff morale. Our departments have worked tirelessly on recruiting qualified candidates and ensuring we have a strong retention strategy in order to help reduce turnover, saving the Town money and improving productivity. As an example, the Franklin Fire Department has spent a great deal of time and effort making substantial reforms within the department, including improving how the Town collects the revenues associated with increased services requested (EMS calls). These reforms are intended to benefit the effectiveness and efficiency of the Department. If a message gets sent that the increased revenues collected are not being reinvested back to the Fire Department, as intended, confidence and morale are impacted, influencing our emergency services. This same dynamic can be echoed in almost all municipal departments.

As Department Heads we feel we have been held accountable over the years and have done our jobs to creatively reform our departments and create millions of dollars in efficiencies and new revenues. Municipal budgeting goes through a through line item-by-line item review each year at the Finance Committee. We believe the public conversation should be less about additional municipal cuts to be transferred to the schools, but rather we think it is prudent for the Committee to begin a deep dive into the school budget to see exactly where there may be reforms, savings or other options, such as addressing unfunded mandates with the state, before cutting more municipal services.
 
We overwhelmingly support an override for the community, as the passage of an override allows our departments to remain solvent and not be affected by any further reductions. However, we are also willing to continue to work within the constraints of Proposition 2 1/2, as we have been directed to do by the Town Administration for years, in order to prevent staff layoffs or severe service cuts. We encourage the Committee public dialogue to revolve deeper around the School Department and the extraordinary amount of money that is required to finance the Schools in Massachusetts. Despite a declining enrollment of almost 35% since the district's peak enrollment in 2008, schools account for 70% of the entire town budget, leaving less room for other services to thrive. No municipality can survive and thrive on the strength and excellence of its schools alone. All municipal departments including the schools are essential and vital off-springs of a vibrant community. Sacrificing or weakening one off-spring or department at the expense of the other weakens the entire community. As has been discussed many times, most cities and towns in Eastern Massachusetts appear to be facing similar financial concerns relevant to schools, thus Franklin is far from alone. We hope the Joint Budget Subcommittee will take the time to dive deeper into the cost drivers of the school budget.

We hope the School Committee and School District understands and supports our departments, as every department head and member of the  town staff work for the School District in some capacity. We are all affected by the financial insolvency in the school budget and desire to see them achieve their goals.

We are proud and honored to be a part of this community and for the opportunity to work with the Franklin Public Schools. As professionals, we all understand how unique our government structure is and that not every community has municipal staff integrated with the schools. As has been discussed for many years, if the Town and Schools did not have this level of collaboration, taxes would likely be much higher and services would be far less effective. We all work exceptionally well together and hope the Joint Budget Subcommittee can work to unify the community through positive engagement rather than dialogue about cutting municipal departments even further.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to our concerns. We appreciate your time and are available for any discussions as the budget process unfolds.

Sincerely,

Thomas J Lynch, Chief of Police
James McLaughlin, Fire Chief
Robert Cantoreggi, Department of Public Works
Felicia Oti, Library Director
Sarah Amaral, Senior Center Director
Mike D'Angelo, Director of Public Facilities
Kerri Bertone, Chief Financial Officer
Karen Bratt, Human Resources Director
Kevin W. Doyle, Director of Assessing
Anne Marie Duggan, Treasurer/Collector
Pam Vickery, Chief Procurement Officer
Bryan Taberner, Director of Community Planning
Breeka Li Goodlander, Director of Conservation
Gus Brown, Building Commissioner
Cathleen Liberty, Director of Public Health
Tracey Taddeo, Animal Control Officer
Rowan Lowell, Museum Archivist
Nancy Danello, Town Clerk
Cory Shae, Director of Arts, Culture & the Creative Economy
Shannon Nisbett, Veteran's Officer

PDF copy of this letter with the last page including all the actual signatures

Letter to Joint Budget Subcommittee from Town of Franklin Department Heads - Dec 17, 2024
Letter to Joint Budget Subcommittee from Town of Franklin Department Heads - Dec 17, 2024




Wednesday, November 13, 2024

This Chalkboard Chat recaps the Joint Budget meeting & the need to begin discussions now (audio)

FM #1313 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1313 in the series. 


This session shares my conversation with School Committee Vice-Chair Dave McNeill. This is a new episode of our continuing “Chalkboard Chat” series. We had our discussion via the Zoom conference bridge on Thursday, November 7, 2024. We recapped the Joint Budget Subcommittee meeting of Oct 23, 2024. 

 

We cover 

  • The budget work continues with Joint Budget revelation of $3.7M shortfall

    • Reorganization provides minimal savings, mostly in Facilities on Town side

    • Level service means no additions to current budget which was significantly cut and added fees due to the failed override

  • Ultimately the Subcommittee came together that there is a significant hole for FY 2026

    • Town to add their wish list to go along with the Tier 2, 3, & 4 cuts as presented in June

    • School to bring updated figures forward months earlier than normal

    • Subcommittee to work through the wish list to get to the needs, review priorities

    • Town Council committed to discuss an override question (yes or no) at a February 2025 meeting; assuming yes, then also to set date, and choose an amount

  • No reason not to begin discussions with community around the minimum shortfall and how to handle it


The recording runs about 27 minutes, so let’s listen in. Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1313-chalkboard-chat-recaps-the-joint-budget-subcmte-mtg-11-07-24/



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Contact info for Dave McNeill ->  mcneilld@franklinps.net   


Joint Budget Subcommittee Meeting


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

We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial. 


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


How can you help?

  • If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors

  • And if you have interest in reporting on meetings or events, please reach. We’ll share and show you what and how we do what we do

  • If you don't like something here, please let me know


Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.


For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/  or www.franklin.news 


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!

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


You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"


This Chalkboard Chat recaps the Joint Budget meeting & the need to begin discussions now (audio)
This Chalkboard Chat recaps the Joint Budget meeting & the need to begin discussions now (audio)

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

The Town Council meeting of Oct 30 gets condensed to 34 minutes in this Quarterbacking session (audio)

FM #1306 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1306 in the series. 


This session of the radio show shares our “Town Council Quarterbacking” with Town Council Chair Tom Mercer. We had our conversation via the Zoom Conference Bridge on Tuesday, November 5, 2023.  


ok, what just happened? 

What does it mean for Franklin residents and taxpayers?


Topics for this session


Fire Department - Swearing In of New Firefighter / Paramedics

Paul Schleicher Jr.

Michael Dumican

Corey Rafter

Steven Osorio

Shea Hurley


The Police Department had 2 Promotions, Both sworn in by Town Clerk Nancy Danello

Lieutenant Michael Colecchi 

Sergeant Cody Landry


Rescission of Prior Approval of Transfer of Section 15 All Alcoholic Beverages Package Store License, Heeru Corporation d/b/a DeVita’s Market. 


License Modification - Change of Manager of a Section 15 Retail Package Store License: Shaw’s Supermarkets, Inc. d/b/a Shaw’s. 


Franklin Children's Museum - Meghan Hagen & Erin Gallagher, joined by architect and Brad Chaffee, Camford Property Group. 


Resolution 24-63: Gift Acceptance: Senior Center ($100)


Resolution 24-64: Town Council Approval of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funds ($8,304) 


Friendly 40B Policy Update introduced by Jamie in response to what has been heard from the community. 


Joint Budget recap - Council action item at a February meeting to determine Override vote (yes/no), if yes, date, if yes, amount


The recording runs about 34 minutes. Let’s listen to my conversation with Tom as we recap the Council meeting of Wednesday, October 30, 2024. Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1306-town-council-quarterbacking-11-05-24/


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Town Council agenda Oct 30, 2024 -> https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/agendas/town_council_meeting_october_30_2024_packet_2.pdf 


Franklin TV video is available for replay -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNbkQwNvQkA 


My notes captured during the meeting and now in one PDF file ->  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zqgR9Lc2lYE9H3f8WOor2CoM-XPxaUG3/view?usp=drive_link


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


We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.  


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


How can you help?

  • If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors

  • If you don't like something here, please let me know

  • And if you have interest in reporting on meetings or events, please reach. We’ll share and show you what and how we do what we do


Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.


For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ or www.franklin.news/


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!

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


You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"


The Town Council meeting of Oct 30 gets condensed to 34 minutes in this Quarterbacking session (audio)
The Town Council meeting of Oct 30 gets condensed to 34 minutes in this Quarterbacking session (audio)

Saturday, October 26, 2024

School Committee votes to allow 54 former DT students & siblings not to redistrict at a cost of $75K (audio)

FM #1295= This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1295 in the series. 


This session shares the Franklin (MA) School Committee meeting held on Tuesday, Oct 22, 2024. All 7 members participated in Council Chambers.


Quick recap:

  • Decision on the overall redistricting proposal was approved at their last meeting but one aspect of that 'tabled' to this meeting: the choice on how to include the former Davis Thayer students. The motion had been amended and then tabled for further clarification on the total number of students involved. The number grew in the time between meetings so if the parents of former DT students choose to stay with Keller rather than move to the new district, they (1) provide their own transportation for the duration of their students' elementary education (2) the district comes up with a net new teacher for one year (approx. $75K) to pay for the increase in enrollment in the new north elementary rather than the south. With the approval (by a 4-3 vote) tonight, the District will now be contacting those affected parents who will need to make a decision in the next couple of weeks. The numbers provided for students covered by this opportunity are if all choose to take it. One would think that providing the extra transportation (rather than taking advantage of the district busing) would result in not all taking this choice. We'll see how it works out.

  • A change to the calendar for this school year was approved to add 3 half days in June to provide a block of 4 half days to enable the teachers and other personnel time to pack for the move before the school year ends. As the override failed, this is one of the consequences of the lack of money the district has to operate. The vote to approve was passed by 6-1 after a motion to 'table' the decision for 1 meeting failed by a 3-4 vote.

  • Approval of the goals for the superintendent passed by a 7-0 vote.

  • Consent agenda was passed by a 7-0 vote.


The recording runs about 2 hours & 55 minutes, so let’s listen in. Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1295-franklin-ma-school-cmte-mtg-10-22-24/




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Franklin TV -> https://www.youtube.com/live/ff3Vn-2hi0g?si=0REBBEJdliJoXiyW&t=186 


School Committee agenda -> https://core-docs.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/4780/FPSD/4941932/SCAGENDA_10-22-24.pdf


My notes for the full session are captured in one PDF file ->   https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F633bBHQYfntqvuKD_XocZBsiRQouF1j/view?usp=drive_link 


Photos of the Davis Thayer decision information can be found in one album ->

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ow3w1ZoXM7dDrMD88 


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

We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial. 


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


How can you help?

  • If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors

  • If you don't like something here, please let me know

  • And if you have interest in reporting on meetings or events, please reach. We’ll share and show you what and how we do what we do


Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.


For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/  or www.franklin.news 


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!

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


You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"


School Committee votes to allow 54 former DT students & siblings not to redistrict (audio)
School Committee votes to allow 54 former DT students & siblings not to redistrict (audio)