Did you know that...

Here's some interesting points about how are our system of government is working today...

Framingham's current government is based on a Town Meeting structure.  The town is divided into areas called precincts and each precinct elects Town Meeting Members to represent them.

Do you know how many precincts Framingham has?

Do you know how many Town Meeting Members represent you?

Do you even know the names of your Town Meeting Members or how to contact them?

The answers are: Framingham has 18 precincts with 12 Town Meeting Members per precinct (for a total of  216).  You can find out who represents you by going to the town's Town Meeting Member web page.

Although a precinct can elect up to 12 Town Meeting Members, a number of precincts are not fully represented due to the fact that no one is running for some seats.

Here's a list of vacancies per precinct:

(data from Town of Framingham website 4/5/2006)

When an override passes, Town Meeting must approve the budget resulting from the override. Is it fair that Precinct 17 residents only have 4 Town Meeting Members to vote on this decision while Precinct 1 has full representation? This is the DEFINITION of taxation without representation.

On any given night of Town Meeting the number of Town Meeting Members attending typically ranges from 110-135, fluctuating up and down through the night as members leave early or come in late.  Given a total possible 216 seats, this equates to 40%-50% of the Town not being represented!

Town Meeting is completely made up of volunteers.  A general lack of interest in the government of Framingham results in individuals being elected or filling vacancies on Town Meeting that have experienced a neighborhood issue (most often crisis) that awakened their need to participate within the government.

Many Town Meeting Members are highly skilled professionals from many fields, however, there are many that have little skill or interest in the legislative function that Town Meeting serves, but take advantage of the ease of being elected in order to effect the vote regarding a particular issue directly effecting that person.

Framingham is a town comprised of over 67,000 residents and has an annual budget of 176 million dollars.  Would you ever consider investing your own money in a company with a budget of $176 Million knowing that the financial directors were volunteers that may or may not have relevant expertise in that particular field, and also may or may not be able to devote the time and attention needed to make appropriate decisions?

Also, in terms of the budget, each Spring Town Meeting votes on the next fiscal year's budget. There are a number of issues debated that may take hours to settle but interestingly enough, the most complex issue that has the largest impact on the financial picture of the town is the School Budget ($75M in FY 2006) which usually takes less than 30 minutes to review/debate and is most always passes unanimously without question! There are many reasons for this phenomenon but the biggest reason is that Town Meeting members do not have the knowledge, expertise, or pertinent information needed to make a decision as to what the School Dept.'s budget should be nor the legal means to make those decisions on a line item basis.

The formula used for revenue sharing between the town's property tax income and the school department is only recommended by the town manager. It is actually the responsibility of Town Meeting to set that formula. For instance, in FY 2006 it was determined that the town's fixed costs were $69 Million. $107 Million was the remainder of the $176 Million budget which was divided by a 61/39 split between the town's operating budget and the School Department's budget. Although the School Dept. is governed by State Law, that leaves a small percentage of revenue for a large municipality such as Framingham to operate on.