It's Been 4 Years. What Has Framingham Accomplished Financially?

FRAMINGHAM, MA—At a recent tax classification hearing, the Board of Selectmen set the rates for FY2018 at $16.32 for residential properties and $35.39 for commercial and industrial properties.

As Town Manager Tom Halpin is leaving to make way for Mayor Yvonne Spicer and the new city government, he addressed Framingham with a detailed map of what has been accomplished over the past four years.

"This is the last tax rate setting process in which I will participate as Town Manager here in Framingham," Halpin wrote. "There is much change underway in Framingham at the moment, as the Town makes a historic transition to its new city form of government. "

Halpin said that he asked selectmen after the tax vote to reflect on the accomplishments of the last four years.

"This story begins in 2013," he writes, "when the Board of Selectmen voted to support a proposal to move the Town’s municipal employee and retiree health insurance plan into the state government’s group health insurance program (the GIC) serving a group of more than 250,000 state and municipal employees."

Next, Halpin reminds residents that the town administrators called for some savings, with he and the CFO crafting a set of strategic financial goals and a three-year budget plan.

"A significant portion of those savings were shared with taxpayers immediately while other amounts were used to create protections and opportunities to mitigate taxes in the future," he wrote. "We were able to craft this plan relying on the projected savings of moving the employee health plan to the state GIC and the judicious use of available cash reflecting the Town’s overall strong financial condition."

Over what turned out to be a four year period, many important goals were reached. They are detailed here.

Photo Credit: Charlene Arsenault