Reality is what you think it is

Yes, really. Your mind constructs its view of life from the world of sensory inputs. You make sense of this life in your own way. Hence, there are plenty of opportunities to have disagreements about simple things.

How red is red? Is it up or down?
It is what it is depending upon your reference point of view.

The opportunity for disagreements grows when things get complicated, like a town budget.

Franklin has been avoiding a serious issue for at least three or four years. Franklin has continued to borrow from its one time windfall filled stabilization account to pay for ongoing operations. The honey jar has a bottom. It is not filled magically. There are no more windfalls on the horizon.

State and Federal mandates require spending money to provide services or meet needs and in most cases, these mandates are not funded by the government. The Federal government is notorious for the No Child Left Behind act which makes major requirements for school departments but does not provide a penny to help. The state government is not much better.

Money is tight. There are only so many ways to increase revenues. Yet, everyone wants services. It is expected.

• Police should respond instantly.
• Fire should respond instantly.
• Roads should have pot holes filled and snow removed.
• The town offices should have convenient hours.
• The library should be a door to a wealth of knowledge all the time for everyone.
• The schools should produce fine and upstanding young citizens so the cycle will continue.

But this all comes at a cost. There ain't no such thing as a free lunch!

Franklin has benefited from MA subsidies for education big time. Half of what Franklin spends on its education budget, the commonwealth actually provides. This subsidy will decline as the school population growth levels off.

Prop 2 1/2 may have been a good idea back in the 1980's when it came in. Massachusetts is no longer "taxachussets". My own family was quite surprised when we came to Franklin in 1995. We actually had our taxes cut in half coming in from Hunterdon County, NJ. We were amazed to find that the education was great. The NJ tax education portion alone exceeded our entire "taxachusetts" amount! How did this happen? Multiple factors, too many to get into here. Perception became common talk.

The Franklin school district has great folks. They work hard. The results are seen in MCAS scores, high school seniors getting into prestigious colleges and universities, etc. The folks in NJ worked just as hard and were just as successful. They simply paid more and yet Franklin was part of "taxachusetts".

Perception, reality, opinions, view points. There can be differences on all of these but the numbers are still saying that Franklin does not have sufficient revenues to sustain our operations.

The Town Council has created a poor choice to vote on. Even if the override passes, the schools take a hit (loosing 20-30 personnel) and the other government functions take a hit. While they have admitted to not wanting to impose their will on Franklin, they have indeed set us up for something other than some of us at least would like to vote on.

So the votes need to be tallied to tell Franklin's Town Council how we can proceed.
You think this year is full of tough choices? Just wait until next year.

The Town Council needs to hear from the voters.
Time to go to vote May 22.