Spend less than 5 minutes to find out about the final stretch on the FY 2027 budget (audio)

Budget, budget, yes, we are into the final stretch on the FY 2027 budget.

Recall The Town of Franklin started planning internally with department level budget reviews during October/December 2025, the first pass on the capital budget during January 2026, the FY 2027 budget was released in February, the Finance Committee spent 17 plus hours over 4 nights in April, and the Town Council spent 8.5 hours over 2 nights May 20-May 21.

During those sessions, the numbers were evolving slightly. At the State level, the Governor issued her view in January, the House of Representatives in April, the Senate just approved their version in May. The health care costs are now closer to final with the open enrollment of Town and retirees completed during April and the costs associated now available.

Hence, there is an updated FY 2027 budget that the Town Administrator has just released incorporating both the Finance Committee recommendations and the latest numbers. 

The Finance Committee gets their view and vote on this budget on Wednesday, June 3, the Town Council gets their chance on Wednesday, June 10. 

The following Wednesday, June 17, the Council also gets to close out this phase of the FY 2027 budget cycle with some procedural authorizations (Community Preservation funding, enterprise fund authorizations, etc.) all before the FY 2027 fiscal year opens July 1, 2026.

Bottomline, the Finance Committee essentially validated the budget approach and numbers. While some on the Council may still think there are areas to cut, those have not explicitly been expressed so it will be interesting to see what the ‘final’ moves are by the Finance Committee and the Town Council. 

Will some of the key cuts get restored (Deputy Town Administrator, School Resource Offices, library Sunday hours, etc.)? Or will the temporary use of $1.1million in free cash to allow the Council, School Committee and Finance Committee to put the plan together on how to get out of this structural deficit be denied, potentially further deepening the hole we are in.

Will there be any surprises? Stay tuned to find out.

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-1748-fm-weekly-outlook-lookback-combo-05-31-26/

*** Event & Meeting schedule (with agendas) as of Town pages 5/29/26, 7:00 PM   ***

Pride Flag Raising - May 31, at 1 PM

Flavors of Franklin - Restaurant Week - May 31 through June 6

Franklin PorchFest - June 6

Planning Board Meeting

Monday, June 1 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06012026-2341 

Recreation Advisory Board

Monday, June 1 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06012026-2306 

250th Anniversary Celebration Communications Subcommittee Meeting

Tuesday, June 2 Time: 6:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06022026-2329 

Franklin Public Schools Contractual Negotiations Meeting June 3

Wednesday, June 3 Time: 4:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06032026-2326 

Board of Health Meeting

Wednesday, June 3 Time: 5:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06032026-2345

Finance Committee Meeting

Wednesday, June 3 Time: 6:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06032026-2346 

Franklin Commission on Disability Meeting

Thursday, June 4 Time: 4:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06042026-2340 

Economic Development Subcommittee Meeting

Thursday, June 4 Time: 6:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06042026-2343 

Conservation Commission Meeting

Thursday, June 4 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/604?fileID=9231 

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

From 5/24 to 5/30/26 

Town/ School meetings

• School Committee meeting - 5/26/26 recap with audio & video links https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/05/school-committee-recognizes-seal-of_01831220539.html 

• Town Council Communications Subcommittee meeting 5/28/26 - recap & video link https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/05/communications-subcommittee-listened.html 

FHS/ Tri-County live streaming 

• FHS girls lacrosse vs. Andover 5/26/26 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFJd9oq9bM0 

• Tri-County graduation 5/28/26  -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4SsMY75Qhg 

• FHS boys lacrosse vs. Newtown North 5/29/26 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RlwMD1hP5Q 

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.

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

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

Subscribe for the daily dose of information -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/p/welcome.html       

Subscribe for the weekly dose of information -> https://www.franklinmattersweekly.org/p/subscribe-for-email.html    

School vacation brings a light meeting week (audio)

School vacation is here and thereby a very light meeting week.

Hopefully, the time away will help to settle some things for folks. I had a great deal of hope coming out of the School Committee meeting Tuesday. Many Councilors were viewing the meeting in the Zoom session, one actively participated asking several clarification questions. All that is goodness.

Given the Council had previously seemed to come to consensus on the need for a strategic plan, we could be on the right road. The strategic plan will take some work to put into place and it needs to start with appropriately funding and staffing the Town Administrator’s office. Without resources there, other normal work will be delayed at best or not happen, key among them is that the Town Council subcommittees won’t be able to meet without additional resources.

Unfortunately, Wednesday night saw some of that hope dissipate during the Town Council meeting which discussed the 5 year fiscal forecast and the Capital budget. The discussion on the forecast revealed issues with how to handle the proposed FY 2027 budget. The Capital plan which had already been approved by the Finance Committee saw some heated words expressed by multiple parties. 

The prioritization of $100K for chromebook replacements over $75k for camera and related server replacements was not accepted by some. Ultimately, the vote to take out the $100K failed and the vote to add the 75K passed. So much time spent over so little money in the scheme of the $1.8 Million capital authorization was truly making “a mountain out of a mole hill.“

The major concern is still with the lack of trust in accepting recommendations made by the people who are charged with the daily operations and who should know better. The Council position of oversight provides them with opportunity to question and to vet proposals but the nature of the challenge became more than it should have.

Hence, hopefully, the time away for school vacation (no School or Town Council meetings this week) will enable a reconciliation and a return to the hopeful progress that does need to be made to solve our structural deficit. Angry words create problems, they do not resolve them. 

WE can only solve our problem with thoughtful civil discourse. The conversations will be difficult but the capability to come up with reasonable solutions is with us. 

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-1659-fm-weekly-outlook-lookback-combo-02-15-26/

*** Meeting schedule and agendas as of Town page 2/13/26, 7:00 PM   ***

Charles River Pollution Control Meeting

Tuesday, February 17 Time: 4:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02172026-2134 

Design Review Meeting

Tuesday, February 17 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02172026-2139

Town Council Monthly Office Hours

Thursday, February 19 Time: 8:30 AM

No agenda for this informal discussion

ZBA Meeting

Thursday, February 19 Time: 7:30 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02192026-2113 

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

A full week of Town/School meetings occurred with something every night of the week

Monday, Feb 9 - The Community Relations subcommittee of the School Committee met. The exclusive audio is available

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/02/community-relations-subcommittee-20926.html 

Monday, Feb 9 - The Planning Board meeting. The Franklin TV video link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMTWLdaCHic

Tuesday, Feb 10 - The School Committee met at 6 PM to provide enough time for their public hearing on their FY 2027 budget. The recap and video of the session can be found

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/02/school-committee-hear-details-on-level.html  

Wednesday, Feb 11 - The Town Council also started at 6 PM with a time limit of 4 hours for this their first session in the new arrangement, and they needed to vote to extend the meeting in order to complete it. The Council got a preview of the updated 5 year fiscal forecast and ultimately approved the first pass on the Capital budget. The recap and video is available

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/02/town-council-adds-to-tier-1-capital.html 

Thursday, Feb 12 - The Conservation Commission. The Franklin TV video link -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7914hOHIlLM

On the school front

• The Middle School 6th grade concert on 2/10/26  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9Gwctl1bsA

• The FHS boys basketball game on 2/10/26 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8wR1dmpqNU&t=1096s 

• The FHS Boys hockey game on 2/12/26  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWj9yQcKJLw 

On the All Access front

• The new Aging Boldfully episode with the YMCA LiveStrong program https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGulySnzXLE

• Tour of the Mass State Police Museum  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTKnwTwvW_c 

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.

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

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

Subscribe for the daily dose of information -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/p/welcome.html      

Subscribe for the weekly dose of information -> https://www.franklinmattersweekly.org/p/subscribe-for-email.html