The five ballot questions can be found here: the first three are state-wide ballot questions. The last two are specific to Franklin and the proposed changes to our Charter.
QUESTION 1
Do you approve of a law summarized below, on which no vote was taken by the Senate or House of Representatives before May 4, 2010?
*** This proposed law would remove the Massachusetts sales tax on alcoholic beverages and alcohol, where the sale of such beverages and alcohol or their importation into the state is already subject to a separate excise tax under state law. The proposed law would take effect on January 1, 2011.
A YES VOTE would remove the state sales tax on alcoholic beverages and alcohol where their sale or importation into the state is subject to an excise tax under state law.
A NO VOTE would make no change in the state sales tax on alcoholic beverages and alcohol.
QUESTION 2
Do you approve of a law summarized below, on which no vote was taken by the Senate or House of Representatives before May 4, 2010?
*** This proposed law would repeal an existing state law that allows a qualified organization wishing to build government-subsidized housing that includes low- or moderate-income units to apply for a single comprehensive permit from a city or town’s zoning board of appeals (ZBA), instead of separate permits from each local agency or official having jurisdiction over any aspect of the proposed housing. The repeal would take effect on January 1, 2011, but would not stop or otherwise affect any proposed housing that had already received both a comprehensive permit and a building permit for at least one unit. Under the existing law, the ZBA holds a public hearing on the application and considers the recommendations of local agencies and officials. The ZBA may grant a comprehensive permit that may include conditions or requirements concerning the height, site plan, size, shape, or building materials of the housing. Persons aggrieved by the ZBA’s decision to grant a permit may appeal it to a court. If the ZBA denies the permit or grants it with conditions or requirements that make the housing uneconomic to build or to operate, the applicant may appeal to the state Housing Appeals Committee (HAC). After a hearing, if the HAC rules that the ZBA’s denial of a comprehensive permit was unreasonable and not consistent with local needs, the HAC orders the ZBA to issue the permit. If the HAC rules that the ZBA’s decision issuing a comprehensive permit with conditions or requirements made the housing uneconomic to build or operate and was not consistent with local needs, the HAC orders the ZBA to modify or remove any such condition or requirement so as to make the proposal no longer uneconomic. The HAC cannot order the ZBA to issue any permit that would allow the housing to fall below minimum safety standards or site plan requirements. If the HAC rules that the ZBA’s action was consistent with local needs, the HAC must uphold it even if it made the housing uneconomic. The HAC’s decision is subject to review in the courts. A condition or requirement makes housing uneconomic if it would prevent a public agency or non-profit organization from building or operating the housing except at a financial loss, or it would prevent a limited dividend organization from building or operating the housing without a reasonable return on its investment. A ZBA’s decision is consistent with local needs if it applies requirements that are reasonable in view of the regional need for low- and moderate-income housing and the number of low-income persons in the city or town, as well as the need to protect health and safety, promote better site and building design, and preserve open space, if those requirements are applied as equally as possible to both subsidized and unsubsidized housing. Requirements are considered consistent with local needs if more than 10% of the city or town’s housing units are low- or moderate-income units or if such units are on sites making up at least 1.5% of the total private land zoned for residential, commercial, or industrial use in the city or town. Requirements are also considered consistent with local needs if the application would result, in any one calendar year, in beginning construction of low- or moderate-income housing on sites making up more than 0.3% of the total private land zoned for residential, commercial, or industrial use in the city or town, or on ten acres, whichever is larger. The proposed law states that if any of its parts were declared invalid, the other parts would stay in effect.
A YES VOTE would repeal the state law allowing the issuance of a single comprehensive permit to build housing that includes low- or moderate-income units.
A NO VOTE would make no change in the state law allowing issuance of such a comprehensive permit.
QUESTION 3
Do you approve of a law summarized below, on which no vote was taken by the Senate or House of Representatives before May 4, 2010?
*** "This proposed law would reduce the state sales and use tax rates (which were 6.25% as of September 2009) to 3% as of January 1, 2011. It would make the same reduction in the rate used to determine the amount to be deposited with the state Commissioner of Revenue by non-resident building contractors as security for the payment of sales and use tax on tangible personal property used in carrying out their contracts. The proposed law provides that if the 3% rates would not produce enough revenues to satisfy any lawful pledge of sales and use tax revenues in connection with any bond, note, or other contractual obligation, then the rates would instead be reduced to the lowest level allowed by law. The proposed law would not affect the collection of moneys due the Commonwealth for sales, storage, use or other consumption of tangible personal property or services occurring before January 1, 2011. The proposed law states that if any of its parts were declared invalid, the other parts would stay in effect. "
A YES VOTE would reduce the state sales and use tax rates to 3%.
A NO VOTE would make no change in the state sales and use tax rates.
Franklin Charter Question 1
Shall sections 1 to 7, inclusive, sections 10 to 13, inclusive, and sections 15 to 25, inclusive, of an act passed by the General Court in the year 2010 entitled ‘An Act Relative to the Charter of the City known as the Town of Franklin’, be accepted?
*** The proposed changes to the Franklin Charter contained in Sections 1-7, 10-13, and 15-25 of the Home Rule legislation include updates to various provisions to comply with existing law or to reflect current municipal practice; they also include several technical corrections. The major changes are summarized as follows: redefining duties of Town Council Clerk to comply with Open Meeting and Public Records laws, providing the Town Council with the ability to reorganize itself and flexibility in scheduling meetings, clarifying the Town Administrator's authority and duties including his appointing authority, updating the listing of standing committees and appointed positions to eliminate obsolete ones, provision for both a temporary and acting town administrator if the town administrator is absent or the position is vacant, reduction of the finance committee from eleven to nine members and updating of the process for their appointment, updating of annual budget and financial planning processes, elimination of obsolete section governing personnel suspension and removals, and elimination of obsolete transitional provisions in connection with charter's original adoption and prior amendment.
Franklin Charter Question 2
Shall the Town Treasurer-Collector be appointed, as provided in Sections 8, 9, 14 and 26 of that act, rather than elected?
*** The proposed changes contained in Sections 8, 9, 14 and 26 of the Home Rule legislation eliminate Treasurer-Collector as an elected position and make it an appointed one; the appointment will be made by the Town Administrator and ratified by the Town Council as is presently the case for all other town officers except the Town Clerk. A transitional provision allows the incumbent Treasurer-Collector to continue in office until the end of his elected term.
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You can find the complete set of ballot questions and candidates for office on the Secretary of the Commonwealth's web site here: http://www.wheredoivotema.com/bal/myelectioninfo.php
You can put your Franklin address into this form and receive a full set of the candidates and ballot questions (3 state wide and 2 specific to Franklin).
Please Note: This is NOT a valid official ballot. Candidates for some local and county offices are not reflected in the ballot above. These offices may, however, appear on your ballot when voting.
Franklin, MA
