Franklin MAtters Weekly

Saturday, April 11, 2026

The budget discussion blossoms

Spring is here, the budget discussion blossoms. The trees are budding and will shortly start filling out with their leaf cover.

The Finance Committee spent 16+ hours reviewing the FY 2027 budget and will bring their findings to the Town Council hearings in May and to the Joint Budget Subcmte meeting this week.

The School Committee meets on Tuesday and is scheduled for a District and School improvement plan update.

The Town Council meets on Wednesday and is scheduled for presentations from NationalGrid, as well as the Police & Fire Departments where the Council will get some background and updates on those key public safety operations.

The Joint Budget Subcommittee gets to meet for the first time in this new set of terms with new membership from the Finance Committee, School Committee and Town Council. They get a grounding in the FY 2027 budget approach and as mentioned, an update from the FinCom on what they have found and will recommend to the Council.

The 250th Anniversary celebration has a subcommittee meeting on Sunday and another subcommittee meeting on Wednesday. The ZBA is not holding a meeting on Thursday.

Thursday morning at the Senior Center local town officials will meet for an informal discussion and coffee.

For all the meetings and cultural events, check out the calendar at Franklin.news where each day, that day's events are posted on the top of the page, the TV and radio schedules are on the bottom, and all the other goodness falls in-between.

Audio link - https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1714-fm-weekly-outlook-lookback-combo-04-12-26/

*** Meeting schedule and agendas as of Town pages 4/10/26, 10:00 PM ***

250th Anniversary Celebration Budget and Fundraising Subcommittee Meeting

Sunday, April 12 Time: 7:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04122026-2248

Franklin School Committee Contractual Negotiations Meeting - Executive Session

Monday, April 13 Time: 4:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04132026-2197

Franklin School Committee Meeting

Tuesday, April 14 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04142026-2250

Town Council Meeting

Wednesday, April 15 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04152026-2251

250th Anniversary Celebration Subcommittee on Events and Logistics Meeting

Wednesday, April 15 Time: 7:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04152026-2245

Town Council Monthly Office Hours

Thursday, April 16 Time: 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM

Joint Budget Subcommittee Meeting

Thursday, April 16 Time: 6:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04162026-2252

ZBA Meeting-no meeting

Thursday, April 16 Time: 7:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04162026-2236

*** Looking back at the week that was ***

Town/School meetings

The Finance Committee spent 16+ hours reviewing, questioning, and deliberating on the FY 2027 budget over 4 nights. The YouTube videos are available on the TV Town Hall Channel. The meeting recap for each session is available at Franklin.News

Monday, April 6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7KSV5MTfHs&t=140s

Tuesday, April 7 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SrQw4jc-r0

Wednesday, April 8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8Hb_pCl64A&t=164s

Thursday, April 9 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oIsBHQ73Ts&t=1170s

The Planning Board met on Monday and the video is available on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyyk7XtPsLM

The Conservation Commission met on Thursday and the video is available on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDH7mr4BEbw&t=1s

FHS sports live streaming

Girls lacrosse vs Taunton https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i81AGqEiQxk

Girls softball vs North Attleboro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCcxtb2IKkg&t=192s

All Access Programs

Frank Falvey interviews Jason Poulos, a candidate for US House of Representatives, District 4 in Democratic primary in Sept 2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtiVLSvBe64

Town calendar -> https://www.franklinma.gov/Calendar.aspx

Community calendar -> https://bit.ly/FranklinCommunityCalendar

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Saturday, April 4, 2026

Budget, budget, budget

Yes, it is that time. The FY 2027 budget documents were released at the end of March. The Finance Committee is scheduled for their line by line departmental reviews this week over 4 consecutive nights

Monday General Government
Tuesday Schools
Wednesday Public Safety and Department of Public Works
Thursday, if necessary

It is worthy of note that at the end of the Finance Committee hearings this week, they will not vote on a recommended budget. The open enrollment period for the employees and retirees to move to the GIC plans runs April 1 to April 30. The costs associated with such a move (anticipated to be less than maintaining the current process) won’t be available until mid-May.

The Finance Committee also has sessions scheduled for May 28 and June 3. At one of those, it is likely for the budget recommendation vote to occur. The Town Council conducts their budget hearings May 20 & 21 and is scheduled for their vote on the budget at their June 10 meeting.

The time to ask questions about the budget of any particular department or operation or service the Town provides is BEST done during these budget hearings. The department leadership is present to answer your questions, provide the details on the how and why they do what they do.

Aside from the budget, there are a bunch of other Town & School meetings this week. The Planning Board meets on Monday (in the 3rd floor training room).

On Tuesday, the OPEB Trust committee meets as well as the Communications Subcommittee for the Franklin 250th Celebration.

On Wednesday, the School Committee Community Relations Subcommittee meets virtually

On Thursday, Municipal Affordable Housing Trust, Cultural District Committee, Conservation Commission and the Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School Board of Trustees are also scheduled as well as a Pole Petition hearing for a new utility pole on Oak St.

The agendas for these individual meetings are provided below.

Audio link - https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1706-fm-weekly-outlook-lookback-combo-04-05-26/

*** Meeting schedule and agendas as of Town pages 4/03/26, 7:30 PM ***

Finance Committee Meeting - Budget Hearing

Monday, April 6 Time: 6:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04062026-2219

Planning Board Meeting

Monday, April 6 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04062026-2231

OPEB Trust Committee Meeting

Tuesday, April 7 Time: 11:00 AM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04072026-2235