Surgical Cuts Spread Pain in Franklin Budget

The first Franklin Town Council meeting after the defeat of the Proposition 2 1/2 override vote, on Tuesday, was all about the bucks or lack of them and about fulfilling a promise to inflict pain across the whole town budget.

Part the First was the budget hearing, which briefly revisited the early budget hearings and was kicked off with a spirited defense of the police department budget by Chief Thomas Lynch, who said that the department had only just reached the staffing levels originally sought back around the year 2000. But he said his department wouldn't seek special favor. It was a similar story from Fire Chief James McLaughlin who noted that plans to reduce staff by two and to idle the town's third ambulance would actually end up costing the town money because ambulance operations are typically a net positive by about $500,000 per year.  That point drew comment from others later in the hearing who asked  rhetorically at least why the town would choose to miss an opportunity to earn revenue.

A few others officials also spoke as did at least a dozen citizens, many angry and at least one on the brink of tears.

Superindentent Lucas Giguere reiterated that his budget involved eliminating a dozen "full-time-equivalent" personnel, many but not all of them teachers.

Members of the Town Council also each commented at length   about the difficult situation they faced and their frustration at not being able to move the needle and pass the override. 

While there was apparent unanimity in supporting the cuts announced in the run up to the override vote, one `yes' supporter said she had been strongly encouraged to support the "agreed" cuts but refused to do so, and argued that the schools had taken too many hits already.

One councilor, Ted Cormier Leger, also took issue with the cost of operating the town museum and the department of Arts, Culture, and the Creative economy, noting that he had been particularly supportive of the latter but felt the situation invited reconsidering that spending. However,  he got no support from other councilors.

So, in the end, the cuts, including ambulance 3, were passed and the council then moved on to other more routine budget matters. The meeting adjourned at approximately 11 pm.