Framingham City Council Finance Subcommittee Meeting - October 28, 2025
Framingham City Council Finance Subcommittee Meeting - October 28, 2025
The Finance Subcommittee of the Framingham City Council met on October 28, 2025, to discuss several items including a discussion of the MetroWest Regional Emergency Communication Center, a transfer of CDBG funds for sidewalk power washing, a DPW union contract, and the FY 2026 tax rate presentation. The meeting included presentations from city officials and votes on recommendations.
Consent Calendar
- The draft minutes from September 25, 2025, were approved unanimously.
Discussion Items
- MetroWest Regional Emergency Communication Center: Chief Dutcher and Chief Hicks, along with the executive director, discussed questions from a previous meeting regarding salaries funded by a state 911 grant. It was clarified that the local appropriation of $60,000 is not for salaries but for software and startup costs, and that a transfer from an IT manager line item to a deputy director line item was made within the grant. The council sought clarification on the funding source and the need for the appropriation.
- CDBG Fund Transfer for Sidewalk Power Washing: Rebecca Now, Tree Warden, proposed reallocating $54,964.15 in unspent CDBG funds for power washing sidewalks in downtown Framingham. Funds come from DFI salaries, improvements, unused small business grants, and MetroWest mediation. Discussion included the extent of work, long-term maintenance, and whether to purchase equipment vs. hire a vendor. The administration agreed to provide an analysis. A motion to recommend favorable action was made, seconded, and passed unanimously.
- DPW Union Contract (1116): A representative presented the contract covering 39 employees for FY 2026–2028, with a 2% COLA each year and various stipend adjustments. The total year-one impact is $123,000, with a request to transfer $27,885 from the general fund. The motion to recommend favorable action passed unanimously.
- FY 2026 Tax Rate Presentation: Assessor Rich O'Neill presented the annual tax classification options. He explained value changes, new growth, and the impact of different residential factors. After discussion, the subcommittee voted to recommend a CIP shift of 1.69 (residential factor 0.8341) and to reject the open space discount and small commercial exemption.
- SNAP Benefits Concern: Councilor Malik raised concerns about potential disruption to SNAP benefits due to federal actions and suggested collaborative efforts to mitigate hunger. The subcommittee discussed but took no formal action.
Key Outcomes
- The subcommittee voted unanimously to recommend favorable action on the CDBG fund transfer and the DPW union contract.
- The subcommittee voted 3-0 to recommend a residential factor of 0.8341 (CIP shift of 1.69) and to reject the open space discount and small commercial exemption.
Meeting Transcript
The finance subcommittee of the city council is comprised of five council members and considers any or all questions appropriate for the purpose of considering the budget. Including the creation of new positions to the payroll, changes to the employee classification plan. Or any matters pertaining to increasing the City of Framingham employee headcount. The following City Council Finance Subcommittee meeting coverage is brought to you by the government channel, a service of the City of Framingham. Subcommittee meeting for October 28th. We will have public participation and then we will have a discussion with the um about the emergency middle six regional emergency communication center and then a consideration of some finance uh uh financing a uh transfer in the community development block grant funds for fifty-four thousand dollars to uh support the continuation of the Framingham efforts to uh put uh um pressure washing of the side box. Okay, I thought we would do something else with it. But okay. We'll hear about that, and then we will um consider the 1116 Supervisors Department of Public Works contract, and then we'll hear a presentation from the assessor regarding the FY 2026 tax rate presentation. Okay, so with that is anyone, there's no one in the room for public participation, and there is no one indicated on Zoom. So therefore we'll go to our draft minutes for 92525. Motion to approve. Second. Okay. All those in favor, Mr. Cannon? Yes. Myself, yes, Ms. Mellick. Yes. Mr. Steiner. Yes. Okay. So next will be the uh discussion with uh Chief M no M rec. M Rec. Anyways, uh with Chief Dutcher and Chief Hicks is certainly welcome to join us. We'd love to have him. So we have the Fairing Fire Chief and the Native Police Chief, and I believe we have the executive director of the uh online, is that correct? Yes, I see. Okay. Yes, okay, yes. Good evening. Evening. Um I think that we were just here for questions. I didn't really have a presentation, otherwise I would afford it to you. Okay. Um if there's anything. I know the last time that we had uh we had uh I had some um major uh connectivity issues on Zoom, and I think that's probably uh kind of the impetus for for us being here. So I'll take the responsibility for that for bad internet. Um so if there's anything that uh any of us could answer. Um I I think if I recall it was a few weeks ago now, but I think the discussion was around um just why we were it was a relative relatively small amount, but why we are funding salaries and there was some question around the how the salaries were determined. Uh is some question whether the assistant director's salary was on the high side, and that was about the I think those were the questions in general. If I recall, if anyone else recalls more, please feel free to uh step in and correct me. Yes, so just um to start off on the salaries for the director and the assistant director, uh the uh the executive director and the deputy director. Um those are being fully funded through the grant. So there's there's no um there's no framing him money. Uh those are being fully funded through the grant. Wasn't the transfer for those for this year or something like that? I thought there was some explanation that we didn't want to fund them all because it was only a partial year.
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