A structural deficit occurs when expenses are increasing faster than revenues are. For the past several years Franklin’s expenses have been larger than incoming revenues. This deficit has been addressed each year with budget cuts and use of one-time sources of money. Without a significant increase in revenue, the town’s structural deficit will only continue to get worse,. Without an override important staff and services will be eliminated here in Franklin harming our reputation and members of our community.
In Massachusetts, towns and cities cannot raise property taxes more than 2.5 percent without the consent of the voters. Because many expenses grow beyond 2.5 percent each year, our system is designed to require municipalities to periodically seek the approval of voters for an “override” of the tax levy limit to pay for vital services. While Franklin has managed to avoid an override for almost 20 years, unexpected costs and high inflation have led to a structural deficit that threatens town services and has slowly continued to erode our reputable public school system. We need an override to invest in our community and support all town services, which will all endure loss of staffing and services if we do approve an override this spring.
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