Sunday, April 1, 2012

Week ending - Apr 1, 2012

The big event of the past week; voters approved the new high school by a 4-1 margin and almost 50% turnout. Both impressive numbers. Historically Franklin turns out to vote in excess of 90% for the major elections every four years, turns out around 40% for money votes (overrides and debt exclusions), and only about 20% to elect our local officials (Town Council, School Committee, etc.). One could argue that the money in advertising associated with the major campaigns has an effect. Without a local TV station, such ad money is really a waste for a local campaign. But at least when the money is on the table (i.e for an override or debt exclusion), the Franklin voters will come to the polls.

What is up for this coming week?

The Town Council votes to allocate money for the capital budget. Regular readers should be aware that Franklin doesn't have a line item in our budget for a capital plan. What is used is the 'free cash' generated annually. Free cash is 'extra' money from the prior year budget that is a result of two things. One, more income than forecasted or less spending than budgeted for. The 'free cash' is a good source for the capital budget as it is one time money, already available. Using 'free cash' to pay for operational expenses just digs the budget further into the hole for next time.

Follow the link in the Town Council agenda document to review the capital items for this year.

Also worthy of noting, the template design for both the website and Facebook pages has changed. Forced by the Facebook change to implement their timeline format, I choose to spring clean the website as well. I hope the fresh look is welcoming. The content is still here. The intent behind it won't change other than for an improvement.

As a reminder to all readers, the Voices of Franklin is something that can be used for any topic pertaining to the business of Franklin. It doesn't have to be reserved for special elections. If you have something to say about something that matters to Franklin, say it respectfully and it can be published here. This can be as easy as composing an email to send to a special email address. It will sit in draft mode until published usually the next day. Detail information on the process can be found here.


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Location: Franklin, MA 02038, USA

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