Framingham Town Meeting Nov. 21

$409,000 is available to the Town of Framingham because of State revenue increases above the original estimate that was made by the town.  The Town estimates State aid in April but the final State figures don’t come out till July.

Town Meeting will debate this question on Nov. 21:  “What should we do with this available extra money ?”

Here are some choices: Return it to all property tax payers or save it in the Finance Committee’s Reserve Fund.

Some say,  return it to the property tax payers ( average of $15) because  people are hurting. 

It is true, 532 senior citizens are living in poverty in Framingham, and 1630 children under age 18 are living in poverty in Town. (2010 census figures)

In my opinion $15 is not going to make a difference in their lives.  Shouldn’t we be trying to find ways to really help them with food, utilities, rent, taxes, clothing, and medical assistance ?

The second choice is to save the extra money.

One reason to do this is that there may be a school  deficit due to unexpected high  Kindergarten enrollment this year.  The current deficit estimate is  $720,000. 

Another reason to save this money is because 18 Town owned buildings are in desperate, and immediate need of repair.  There are health and safety concerns.  The Danforth building needs lots of work. Callahan Senior Center roof is leaking.  Making these buildings handicapped accessible was mandated in 1996 and still has not been completed. 

These problems have been kicked down the road too many times. It seems prudent and responsible to start addressing some of these issues since we have the funds available.

A third reason to save the money is because of  potential heavy snow storms such as this years Feb. Blizzard when we used $121,800 from the Fin. Com. Reserve Fund for storm clean up. 

So, for all these reasons, please vote to save the extra money and spend it very wisely. 

Please vote yes on the Town Meeting motion to save the money and no on the motion to refer it back to sponsor.  Thank you,

Herb Chasan, Town Meeting Member, Pct. 4