Framingham City Council Meeting - December 10, 2025: Tax Rate Correction and Error Explanation
Framingham City Council Meeting - December 10, 2025: Tax Rate Correction and Error Explanation
The Framingham City Council held a public hearing on December 10, 2025, to address a $3.2 million calculation error in the FY2026 tax levy. Councillor George King discovered the error, which had inflated the tax levy by 1.6% of excess capacity and an additional 1.0% from a miscalculation of the 2.5% increase on unused levy capacity. The council voted to adopt a revised tax rate with a reduced increase, lowering the average single-family tax bill increase from $317 to $263 (a 0.7% reduction in the increase).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Donna Kilcoin expressed concern about rising assessments and property taxes, noting her taxes increased 8% and 11% in recent years, and urged the council to consider affordability for fixed-income residents and young families.
- Joel Winnett asked about the calculation of excess levy capacity and whether the banked amount is a percentage or dollar amount, and requested transparency on the reserve.
- Herb Chasen requested a plain explanation of the error, who made it, and why it wasn't caught. He urged the council to adopt safeguards: double-check debt exclusion numbers, review revenue assumptions, and require written sign-off from the CFO and city accountant.
- Audrey Hall advocated for more public access to financial documents online to enable external oversight, and asked for confirmation that no taxpayer refunds would be issued (the council confirmed the increase is reduced, not refunded).
- Jim Pelillo (Claude Edge Circle) advocated for creating an internal audit function reporting to the mayor with a dotted line to a council audit subcommittee, citing the city's size and fiduciary responsibility.
- Audrey Hall (second time) reiterated the need for clear, simple explanations for constituents and suggested reducing the $40 million excess levy capacity through an underride.
Discussion Items
- Councillor King presented a detailed explanation of the error. The FY2026 tax levy was calculated using a spring budget revenue sheet that incorrectly included the FY25 exempt amount, adding $3.2 million. Additionally, the 2.5% increase was applied to the levy limit (including unused excess capacity) rather than the actual levy, adding another $1.0 million. The city inadvertently used $1.6 million of excess levy capacity. The administration proposed to correct this by increasing estimated local revenue from building permits, excise taxes, and interest income by $1.6 million, which the Department of Revenue approved. This reduces the tax levy by $1.6 million, lowering the average tax bill increase from $317 to $263 (3.37% increase vs. 4.07%).
- Councillors expressed concerns about internal controls. Councillor Cannon noted the error was basic math and questioned why a volunteer caught it rather than paid staff. He called for a thorough review of processes and accountability. Councillor Wood supported the DLS financial management review and requested a presentation to the council upon completion. Councillor White-Hovey emphasized honesty and clarity for residents. Councillor Malik asked for details on the eight corrective steps proposed by the administration.
- The administration responded that the error was a serious oversight and that they are working with the Department of Revenue on a financial management review. They outlined eight new procedures, including a working group with the finance subcommittee, enhanced cross-checks, and educational forums. Councillor Cannon criticized the eight steps as vague and insufficient, noting the error was a failure of basic arithmetic and not a lack of education.
Key Outcomes
- The council voted unanimously (11-0) to adopt the FY2026 tax classification shift at 1.69 with a residential factor of 0.8341, resulting in a residential rate of $11.83 per $1,000 and a commercial rate of $23.97 per $1,000.
- The council also voted unanimously (11-0) to not adopt the open space discount and small commercial exemption.
- The public hearing was closed after the votes.
- The meeting adjourned with a motion by Councillor King and second by Councillor Cannon, passed unanimously.
Meeting Transcript
The City Council is the sole legislative body of the city of Framingham and is therefore responsible for passing city ordinances. The city council is made up of 11 members who exercise the legislative powers of Framingham. Two of these members are known as counselors at large, and nine members are known as district councillors. The city council serves as a link between the citizens of Framingham and their municipal government. Counselors help constituents by connecting them to resources, services, and city departments. And also serve as advocates for all Framingham residents. The following city council coverage is brought to you by the government channel, a service of the city of Framingham. Council will come to order. I just um I first want to just um take a moment. Um Nova wanted a moment of silence for Ryan, who was um that got uh tragically was killed um in an automobile accident, he got hit on his bike, and then for the the two folks that lost their lives over at Interfaith Terrorist on behalf of Councillor Bryan in her district. If we could just take a moment's silence for those folks, it'd be appreciated. Thank you. We have a public here um we weren't doing this, but um public participation. Okay, didn't think we were doing this. Um there's three people that have their hands raised for public participation. We have a couple of folks in the room that nobody's raised their hand yet, but we're gonna do three minutes because um we've got a busy agenda. If what if you're raising your hand and it's in regards to the tax hearing, we ask you to speak during that part of the agenda. I'll first start with Donna Kilcoin author. Uh Donna, you have the floor for three minutes. I'm gonna start the timer. Can you hear me? This is Donna. Yeah, can you hear me? Yeah, we can hear you now. Thanks, Donna. So um this is kind of uh related to the taxes, but it's adjacent to it. Um I you know, have been looking at the the increases in the assessment of the properties. And I and I am concerned that the assessments keep going up and up and up, and there doesn't seem to be a slowdown in that increase. And if you look across um, you know, what the percentage increases across Massachusetts, it's three at three and four percent. So I feel like we're really outpacing ourselves as increasing the assessed values of our homes. And um, you know, there's gonna be a lot of people who uh can't afford a home in Framingham for multiple reasons. Um the the pace of the increase in the assessed value added on to the increase in the in the property taxes. Um I'm I'm just concerned that we have people on fixed incomes that can't keep pace. They can't keep pace with the water bills, they can't keep pace with electricity, and you know, Framingham is going to become very unaffordable, and we already have young families that can't afford to be in a new home. They might be able to afford the price, but their mortgage company has told them you can't afford the taxes and the and the costs that go along with your home. So I really think we need to keep that in mind when we look at this big picture. Thank you. Thank you very much, and keeping it within the time limit. Next speaker will be Joel Winnett. Mr. Winnett, you've got three minutes, sir. Joel. Oh, okay, thank you. Three minutes, sir. You're up. I guess I see my name, but not my video. But that's uh that's okay. Um I related to the taxes, which remind me, um uh the councilor king is always very aware of how we compute um taxes. And uh the proposition two and a half uh would is not fully understood by the public, and I think uh other officials as well, that we have when we go under proposition two and a half, and I believe we're 2.1 this year, we're banking some amount that could be used at any future time. I'd like to know whether that's the pre what is banked is a percentage, like 0.4%, or is it the dollar amount that is banked?
openpublica.com