Jonathan Bowers: Reconsidering potential of the city of Franklin

To The Daily Sun,

When my wife and I decided to move to Franklin in late 2015 we saw a city with great potential, one that was on the brink of a major revitalization. Here it is almost three years later and many things have me currently concerned about the state of affairs in the Three Rivers City. Each year since moving here the news reports have remained the same year after year. SAU 18 has a budget shortfall and is requesting money from city council. A few weeks later it is then realized that the city had another 400 thousand to spare. This process has now been repeated three times in as many years, all that has changed is the sense of hostility between the school board, city council and its mayor. When asking the many wonderful residents of the city their opinion of this year’s events one thing is clear, the vast majority feel the city has abandoned the schools.

While I have no doubt that city council, the mayor, and our new city manager only want the schools to provide the youth of our city the best education possible, the old saying “the perception is the reality” comes to mind. The two government bodies have given the impression of a feud, one that is only harming the children of the city who simply want to have a chance to succeed in life. The fact is that I see a city without a vision, one that is trying to revitalize the city with no long term plan, rather by playing it by ear hoping that more business will be attracted into the city generating more revenue. The fact is that both the city and the SAU need change in order to find a solution to the problems. The problem cannot be ignored any longer. The yearly Band-Aid fix is no longer working as the problem has grown into a full blown arterial bleed, a solution that can only be found by hiring a change consultant to assist both entities in finding new ways to function in order to provide not only continued services, but to maximize savings as well.

Many will say that the tax split needs to change, even with many assuming that such a change will not raise taxes. A quick drive through Franklin however will tell the truth. The city currently can barely fill in potholes on the streets. In the winter times many main two lane roads in the city turn into simple one lane roads, and finally week after week the sanitation trucks continue to break with age resulting in delayed trash pickup throughout the city. The fact is that anyone who reads through the budget will realize is that money is tight. Franklin is also a poor city, the cries I’ve heard of “raise my taxes” will only lead to more empty homes as more and more elderly residents find themselves unable to pay their taxes. Tax bills that will be going up as the city continues to reassess every property for the upcoming tax year, as well as the likelihood of yet another water and sewer rate hike. The harsh reality is that to fully fund the needs of the schools, property owners would likely see a 20 percent increase in their tax bill, one that would only continue to go up as the schools continue to fall under attack by the state.

As each year passes Franklin, and many other small districts across the state, suffer another 4 percent cut to the adequacy aid stabilization grants to the schools, cuts that will last a total of 25 years until the grants are gone all together. It is time for the state to revisit how adequacy aid is calculated before it is too late. The sad reality is that the state has greatly miscalculated how these recent cuts will impact the impoverished areas of New Hampshire. Any reasonable individual would see the need for the state to help these regions, particularly since they consist of the largest opiate abuser populations in the state. Sadly during the last legislative session our representatives felt it more important to instead push for school vouchers and for more charter schools to open rather than accepting that ALL students deserve a quality education. It is time for all involved to accept the reality of the situation in our state. Until then the perception will remain, Franklin and the State of New Hampshire do not care about our youth.

Jonathan Bowers

Franklin