Friday, December 4, 2009

The Real Reason Our Property Tax Rate Dropped

As we reported on our main page a few days back, the Selectmen had nothing to do with the reduction in the property tax rate, despite what you may have heard. An article written by Sarah Palermo in the Keene Sentinel confirmed what we had reported earlier.

"Drop in tuition students means decrease in Winchester tax rate"


WINCHESTER - The property tax rate in Winchester is down, largely because fewer students from Winchester attended Keene High School in 2008-2009 than anticipated.

The total rate fell from $28.27 last year to $26.94, a drop of 4.7 percent.

The town, state education and county portions of the tax rate all rose, but they were offset by a decrease of $1.50 in the school portion.

School officials estimate the number of students for the coming school year based on current enrollments in the 8th through 11th grades. However, in the summer of 2008, months after the budge was st, the number of students dropped from about 230 to about 200.

NOTE: Isn't it amazing that just 30 students would drop the rate by $1.50?

The savings in tuition went back to the taxpayers, lowering the tax rate, according to Winchester School District Business Manager Thomas P. O'Connor.

The town's ratio of assessment is 100 percent, meaning that, on average, a house that is assessed at $200,000 would sell for that amount, and its owner would pay an annual tax bill of $5,388.

NOTE: I bet you would find that NO houses are selling for what they are listed/assessed at...for 2009.

Of every $26.94 in taxes collected in Winchester.

> $7.09 goes to the town government, up 8 cents, or 1.1 percent, from last year's rate of $7.01.

This will raise $1,995,187 for the town.

> $14.72 goes to local school taxes, down $1.50, or 9.2 percent, from last year's rate of $16.22. This will raise $4,148,250 for local schools.

> $2.35 goes to the state educational tax, up 8 cents, or 3.5 percent, from last year's rate of $2.27. This will raise $636,669 for the state.

> $2.78 goes to Cheshire County, up 1 cent, or 0.4 percent, from last year's rate of $2.77.
This will raise $784,530 to support the county jail, nursing home and other services.

In total, Winchester will raise $7,496,536 in taxes, down $438,029 from last year.

Tax bill were mailed on November 24, and are due January 4.

49 comments:

Anonymous said...

Didn't think it had anything to do with them, they never think of us, only themselves.

very concerned said...

Didn't someone say they took money from some fund to lower the tax rate. If this is why the rate went down, then where did the money go they took out of that fund?

mad and poorer said...

Must have been their Xmas bonuses for doing such a great job of driving us all into the poor house. I hope they choke on their Xmas dinners.

Anonymous said...

Six or Seven yrs ago, I bought my house based on my income at the time. Since then, the taxes have made my payment into something that the AVERAGE WORKING FAMILY can "BARELY" afford. Something needs to be done. I've got to believe the are some cuts that could be made somewhere!

the Winchester Informer said...

Our problem here in Winchester is that the elected officials, we have voted into office have no fiscal responsibility towards us. They are a "go along, to get along" bunch, more worried about rocking the boat, than doing what's right. Until we find and elect people who are going to do the job in a manner that is best for all of the people in town and not just a select few, who will act in a responsible and frugal way, we're stuck with the status quo of spending more and more, year after year and having out tax rate continue to climb until many more lose their homes and are forced to move out of Winchester.

For example; Let's take a look at this years proposed budget requests by dept. and what the BOS approved for them.

Ambulance Dept., requested $73,686.00 .. BOS approved $70,686.00 .. an increase of $4,849.00 over last years $65,837.00

Cemetery Dept.; requested $38,310.00 .. BOS approved $38,310.00 .. an increase of $1410.00 over last years $36,900

Conant Library; requested $71,150.00 .. BOS approved $66,382.00 .. same as last year.

Emergency Management; requested $28,984.00 .. BOS approved $20,984.00 .. an increase of $13,031.00 over last years $7,953.00

Executive Dept.; requested $124,409.00 .. BOS approved $124,396.00 .. an increase of $28,148.00 over last years $96,248.00

Financial Dept.; requested $130,583.00 .. BOS approved $130,583.00 .. an increase of $6,940.00 over last years $123,643.00

Health Agencies; requested $60,803.00 .. BOS approved $60,803.00 .. a paltry $327.00 more to help the needy .. nice!

Highway Dept.; requested $548,460.00 .. BOS approved $542,461.00 .. an increase of $5,999.00 over last years $541,792.00 ( more for Dale to waste )

Insurance Dept.; requested $60,914.00 .. BOS approved $60,914.00 .. an increase of $5,038.00 over last years $55,876.00 ( some of us can't even afford insurance; but our town employees get the best our money can afford )

Land Use; requested $78,066.00 .. BOS approved $76,892.00 .. an increase of $9,798.00 over last years $67,094.00 .. more money for Margaret to spend.

Landfill; requested $278,978.00 .. BOS approved $281,978.00 .. $3,000.00 more than what was requested and an increase of $11,236.00 over last years $270,742.00 ( more trash generated from the race tracks for us to pay for it's disposal )

Legal Dept,; requested $53,851.00 .. BOS approved $53,851.00 .. an increase of $18,850 over last years $35,001 ( due to all of the lawsuits against the PB and BOS )

Personal Administration; requested $393,784.00 .. BOS approved $393, 784.00 .. Budget Committee approved $407,315.00 .. an increase of $30,571.00 over last years $376,744.00 ( gotta pay for all of those raises and cola's somehow )

Police Dept.; requested $455,701.00 .. BOS approved $443,819.00 .. an increase of $12,192.00 over last years $431,627.00 ( despite being a man short ) Actually with our population we have too many officers now.

Town Beach Dept.; requested $17,575.00 .. BOS approved 17,575.00 .. an increase of $2,784.00 over last years $14,791.

Town Clerk Dept.; requested $141,586.00 .. BOS approved $141,586.00 an increase of $4,733.00 over last years $136,853.00

And on and on it goes, more spending, higher taxes, no relief in sight.

As you can see, despite these hard times for all of us, the town's employees are costing us more than some of you can afford and there have been no cuts in spending at all. the BOS and Budget Committee are not working to ease the burden; in fact they have increased it again. I hope you all remember this when you go to the polls. If we don't vote for change this pattern of increasing spending will continue for another 3 years.

Anonymous said...

The selectmen used $173,000.00 from the unfunded balance fund also to lower the taxes rate.

the Winchester Informer said...

Would you mind providing some proof to verify your statement? We did see an article in the newspapers in regards to the School reductions; but have seen nothing to verify the Selectmen did anything to lower the tax rate. Just the opposite in fact. Just imagine how much lower it could have gone without the "new cruiser" we voted NO for, or the $14,000.00 Dale Gray was given the okay to spend on a new dump body for the truck they broke, even though the insurance estimate for ALL repairs including paint was less than $5000.00? Or the lettering of the police cruisers that had to be done twice? And just think if they hadn't given out all of those raises, bonuses and cost of living adjustments and had actually CUT some of the wasteful spending out of those bloated department budgets, what we could have seen.

Watching the budget said...

Don’t forget the NEW $300.00 boots the taxpayers bought the Lt (Roberts) when he accidently ordered the wrong ones. Or do all the town employees get to buy $300.00 of footwear every year?

Wants to know said...

Something is screwy here. If the reduction in the school rate was $1.50, offsetting the increases in town, county and state, giving us a a difference of $1.33, where is the additional reduction from the $173,000.00 the BOS supposedly used to reduce our taxes? From what I have read, out town tax went up .08 cents per/household; you men to tell me it would have been an even larger increase for the town portion of our tax bill? How in hell is this cutting taxes as they claim to be doing? Or did that money go someplace else?

Bob Davis said...

The budget committee cut about $200,000 from the school budget in 2008. If you had shown up at the school deliberative session you would have seen Colleen Duquette and her friends vote to put this money back into the school budget. This money wasn’t needed (or used) and about $200,000 of surplus dollars should have come back to the town. But did we receive a check going directly to the town coffers? No! The school keeps this money to lower their portion of the school tax rate. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to keep our tax dollars at home instead of giving the school an interest free loan of our hard earned money? Like the school, the town employees and the greedy little kid said they all wanted for Christmas , "I want the bestest and the mostest". We can no longer afford this attitude. We are in a crisis where families are loosing their jobs and their homes. That is why our school enrollment is down. People can no longer afford to live here.

It is a friggin shell game with your tax dollars. This same shell game with your tax dollars goes on at the town hall, taught by none other than the great John Stetser.

Everyone has a choice, stay at home on the day of deliberative session or show up and watch how a small group of people control your tax dollars and do something about it.

have many questions and few answers said...

I think there needs to be an independent state ordered audit going back at least 5 years to see just how much tax money can actually be accounted for and how much if any is missing. I no longer trust these people we have voted into office and can see several discrepancies over what is factual and what is fiction.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone think we would have seen any decrease if it weren't for this blog? You can bet your last dollar that without these people fighting for us all, things would be a lot worse off than they are. you can also bet that every town employee including our Select Board are reading here daily. Be sure to keep telling them what you think, it may just make some more progress in getting this town turned around.

here we go again said...

New boots...when Officer Breau fell into the creek on Piney Woods Road injuring his back while recovering evidence last Februray, which, by the way was witnessed by Paul McCombs who at the request of WPD spent five hours without ever getting paid assisting Breau with retreiving approximately 200 US Postal money orders and a safe from the water which was stolen from a burgalarized post office in Massachusetts on the Saturday prior to Roberts shift on Sunday. Roberts should have got off his lazy ass and put forth an effort trying to collect the evidence instead of putting a message in the PD Pass on book explaining that he did not want to risk getting wet. Breau ruined his boots and requested a new pair but was told by Roberts he had to wait because there was no money in the budget,yet Roberts was allowed to spend $300.00 for his Danner boots and the boots Breau bought last year(which are the same brand and style made by Rocky which the NHSP use)cost only $125.00.

For more wasted money...the town just paid a weeks salary to Officer Zeigler for him to rest up after graduation last week before starting his shift.

He spent 14 weeks at the academy getting into top physical shape. Why in the hell would he need a weeks paid vacation that he is not entitled to until he has completed one year of employment in July 2010
before starting his shift. The mere fact he is no longer attending the academy is in and of its self a vacation. Talk about mis-management of town money. Officer Zeigler should be docked a weeks pay. Also, how did Gary Phillips submit Ziegler's payroll when Zeigler did not have any time on the books, saved or earned. The only way Phillips could submit Zeigler's pay for his week off would be to lie on the time sheet. Here you have it folks, another opportunity to get your chief ousted. Also folks, if the town accountants approved Zeigler's pay (which they should not have done) they should have a record of Zeigler's earned time which would justify paying for Zeigler's week off.

Where's the FEDS? said...

Ah, you who...shouldn't they have called the FEDS before touching the safe in the river? It is considered a Federal Bureau of Investigation's matter, is it not? Couldn't the FEDS turn around and say that the Winchester Police department blundered the investigation? Why wasn't any of this reported to the public? I also heard that originally there was a gun & crowbar next to the safe, but they went missing before he wadded into the river. What happened with them?

Anonymous said...

perhaps you should direct your questions to the highway department employee who took what would be considered evidence from the creek and later returned it after running around town bragging about what he found and being questioned by the police. none of this was made public either. what a fiasco the winchester police dept. is.

fishercat said...

Food for thought!

About 20 years ago some people in Ashuelot tried to seperate their Fire Company from Winchester by establishing The Ashuelot Fire District.
The BOS and others in town lied to the people of Ashuelot and got the petition tabled, effectively killing it, without going to a vote on the matter.
The BOS knew that if Ashuelot was successful all money raised from those residents for the fire dept. would go to the Ashuelot Fire District to spend as they wanted and the District not Winchester could regulate how much was raised.
At the time this all happened the town of Winchester had just taken over the control of the 2 seperate fire companies. Members of the Ashuelot fire station were being treated like second class citizens and had very little if any say in how things were done. Winchester got everything, Ashuelot got left overs and hand me downs.
The Ashuelot members felt they were being phased out and tried to save themselves. Ashuelot station now houses old, unused equipment and antiques. Fire trucks have not responded from that station in years, sadly the Ashuelot members were correct, they were phased out.
The following is the state law concerning the establishment of a village district.


CHAPTER 52
VILLAGE DISTRICTS
Section 52:1
52:1 Establishment. –
I. Upon the petition of 10 or more voters, persons domiciled in any village situated in one or more towns, the selectmen of the town or towns shall fix, by suitable boundaries, a district including such parts of the town or towns as may seem convenient, for any of the following purposes:
(a) The extinguishment of fires;
(b) The lighting or sprinkling of streets;
(c) The planting and care for shade and ornamental trees;
(d) The supply of water for domestic and fire purposes, which may include the protection of sources of supply;
(e) The construction and maintenance of sidewalks and main drains or common sewers;
(f) The construction, operation, and maintenance of sewage and waste treatment plants;
(g) The construction, maintenance, and care of parks or commons;
(h) The maintenance of activities for recreational promotion;
(i) The construction or purchase and maintenance of a municipal lighting plant;
(j) The control of pollen, insects, and pests;
(k) The impoundment of water;
(l) The appointing and employment of watchmen and police officers;
(m) The layout, acceptance, construction, and maintenance of roads; and
(n) The maintenance of ambulance services.
II. The voters who are domiciled in any village shall cause a record of the petition, pursuant to paragraph I, and their proceedings thereon to be recorded in the records of the towns in which the district is situate.

Section 52:2
52:2 Meeting to Consider. – Such selectmen shall also forthwith call a meeting of the voters domiciled in the district to see if they will vote to establish the district, and if so to choose necessary officers therefor. They shall call the meeting and give notice thereof as town meetings are called and warned, excepting that the warrant shall be posted at 2 or more public places in the district.


The Franklin Mountain District

The Wesport Village District

The We Ain't Payin' Winchester No More of Our Money District

Just some food for thought!

another coverup? said...

On the piney woods road thing, at the time the word on the street was two guys from hwy took a bolt cutter and a hook from a wrecker, don't know whats true and what isn't but what ever happened it was swept under the table. Theft is theft everywhere but Winchester.

here we go again said...

FACTS...FACTS...FACTS...The following information are factual and in Officer Breau's report which can be obtained from WPD or the U.S. Postal Inspector.Yes, a pair of bolt cutters was taken out of the water at Pine Woods and from a crime scene by a Highway Department employee and it was recovered by Phillips and Breau at the Highway Garage.

A strong box with approximately 8001 cent stamps were also taken from the crime scene and never recovered. Highway employees were questioned about the strong box which they denied having any knowledge of. After Breau and Paul McComb returned with additional tools to recover evidence from the water the strong box without stamps mysteriously showed up. Officer Breau photographed the strong box and submitted the photos with his report. Chief Phillips interviewed Highway department employees who admitted to taking the strong box and returning it to the crime scene by throwing it out of a Highway Department vehicle as they drove by the brook on Piney Woods Road. These are actual facts folks which are in Breau's police report along with Roberts comment about there not being any evidentary value to the safe because prints could not be obtained because of the water's current. What a bull s--t statement. Fact...prints can be recovered from an object which has been submerged under water for six months. This is another example of Roberts laziness. This was brought to Phillips attention by Breau, McComb and Reppucci which Phillips failed to do take disciplinary action against Roberts. In fact Roberts actions are strong grounds for his termination. All the information the Selectmen need to fire Roberts is in Breau's report. And people wonder why Breau resigned. He was tired of the b/s, double standards, inept and inconsistent procedures and incompetent officers. The crimes commited in Feburary on Pine Woods by town employees are receiving stolen property...tampering with a crime scene...tampering with evidence and giving a false stetement... just to mention a few. Several of these crimes are felonies (state and federal) with 6&7 year prosecution statute of limitations.

All you have read here folks is in Breau's report and was submitted to the U.S Postal Inspector. Phillip's failed to do do his job again by not charging Highway department employees accordingly. If you are really curious...ask Paul McComb what happened to his tow chain he carefully set on the ground near the guard rail and out of the road until he returned with additional equipment...can you say Highway Department employees receiving stolen property again while working on town time.

The Selectmen need to confront Phillips for failing to do his job and ask for his resignation or terminate him.

Give this information to the Keene Sentinel and see how they will slant this in Phillips favor.

The AG's Office would love this information.

Here you go folks of Winchester...all the information you need to fire and prosecute Winchester Town Employees. What are you all going to do or not do with this information? The ball is in your court.

can't believe what's going on in Winchester said...

OMG you people really do need all the help you can get, what a crooked town you live in. If I were any one of you I'd be calling the FBI and/or the State attorney General's office and every newspaper and TV stations news bureau and letting the cat out of the bag.

Some observations said...

Speaking about the Police Department.

Sounds like your Chief is much like the one in New Castle.

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Review+cites+ex-chief%27s+lax+leadership&articleId=ae1f36cd-6718-4e72-9da6-062b34cff81d

Much of what is in this article mirrors what is going on in Winchester. I bet Central Intelligence, the company the town chose to use to investigate the problems at their PD would find similar patterns of a poorly run department at Winchester.

Interestingly, this investigation was initiated at New Castle’s town attorney’s behest. I wonder why the attorney for Winchester, Barton Mayer doesn’t strongly recommend the same for Winchester? Is he so close to the problems in Winchester that he can’t separate himself from the town enough so that he can be objective?

Perhaps if he recommended finding out the truth for the betterment of all he would also have to explain why he has misrepresented the truth both in court and at certain hearings he has participated in on behalf of the town. Some would call them lies instead of mistruths, but either way they aren’t good for the town.

Some interesting excerpts from the article in yesterdays Union Leader, these from the report.

"It was discovered that little to no organizational structure exists," the report said of the department itself. "Each officer appeared to simply be doing whatever they wanted with a complete lack of administrative direction."

Those interviewed complained that Murphy took every police detail at Wentworth by the Sea, which happen often seasonally, earning money beyond his salary. When Murphy was unable to staff a detail, he wouldn't put any other officer on it, the report said.

"Interviewees cited that in their opinion the chief was double dipping,"

Just a couple of the very same things found as have been mentioned on this blog.

The AG’S office has yet to make any announcement on their findings about the Police Association.

It would seem that since Gary Phillips and Chris Roberts made a deliberate and successful attempt to defraud a bank, that would be a cause for some discipline by the town - firing, AG and maybe even the FBI, otherwise people will be doing this type of thing all over the place.

Remember, they presented fraudulent paperwork to a bank to gain control and access to bank account by abusing their positions and titles. Would any of us have been able to just pull that off?

They caused a bank to believe that they (Chief & Lt) had the legal authority to make changes to a bank account in another’s name.

The presented fraudulent paperwork to the bank, Not 1 time but 2 times.

Remember the bank changed the account back when they got info from Reppucci that they never should have changed the account to begin with.

So what do these Police Officers do? The second time they enlisted Maryann Platz to help them make a more convincing argument and she helped them by lying for and with them and they presented the bank with more fraudulent and deceptive paperwork.

Instead of a conspiracy to defraud by Phillips and Roberts acting alone, they had to involve Platz in their scheme to defraud the bank and now involve her in their conspiracy. And she complied.

These guys are not fit to be police officers who are supposed to uphold the law. They are entrenched with their own power, greed and ego’s and don’t care about their jobs.

What a mess!!!!!

only in Winchester said...

Sherm, Kens, Gus, Roberta, time to step up, this is not going to go away. Bob its time to take off the blinders.

more cover up? said...

Dale Gray and John Gomarlo must have known about this, hell half the town knew.

I was there said...

re: Barton Mayer, our town's attorney. He is hip deep in all of this, he protects liars and crooks and he himself committed perjury in Superior Court when he fought to keep Jack March from testifying. The abutters had subpoenaed him to give testimony against Sharra's ex-parte' communications outside of scheduled meetings; which is illegal and Mayer told the court that Marsh had called him the morning of the hearing and stated he did not want to testify, had nothing to say to benefit the abutters and was sick and tired of them. All of this was untrue, Mayer called Marsh, not the other way around, told him NOT to go to court; because the judge would NOT allow him to testify; because he had not been paid a mileage fee to appear. What a crock, ask yourselves why Marsh, a member of the planning board and highly respected for his honesty in town, would take it upon himself to submit a sworn affidavit to the court, the very next day, giving his testimony on behalf of the summons he had received? Does this sound like a man who did not want to go to court; who had actually made arrangements, by taking a vacation day to do so? You also have to wonder, if nothing the abutters are stating is true, why a member of the town's own board would be willing to give testimony in their case against Sharra and the town. You also have to wonder why Mayer was so determined not to have him testify and what the outcome would have been had he done so. As for Mayer, do we really want this kind of attorney representing our town? And just so everyone knows, it was he who helped John Stetser get his new job in Hillsboro, a town now intent on removing him for more of the same stunts he pulled here. They say you can tell a person by the company they keep .. take a good look at what has transpired in Winchester lately.

Did I get it Right? said...

So the town's attorney, Barton Mayer told the judge that Jack Marsh called him and told him he didn't want to go to court to testify?

Barton Mayer really told the judge that Mr. Marsh called and said he was sick and tired of the abutters and didn't have anything to say anyway?

But, what really happened was Barton Mayer called Mr. Marsh and told him the judge wouldn't listen to him because he was supposed to get paid in advance for his mileage reimbursement and because he hadn't been the judge wouldn't let him testify?

I would have thought a reimbursement would have occurred after an expense was incurred, not in anticipation of one. Interesting concept, Barton Mayer.

All this was said in front of the judge, in court for the record and after Mr. Marsh was served a subpoena to testify?

I was there said...

You got it right.
Marsh was served by the Sheriff's Dept. to testify in court. Barton
Mayer found out and called Marsh, told him not to go. Then Mayer testified in court and told the judge that Marsh didn't want to testify. All that is on the court record for anyone to see.

HELP said...

This is small potatoes compared to whats coming out, but i came by the town hall at 3pm and there was almost no cars in the parking lot. This means some people aether didn't come to work or left early. My question is if they left early do we still pay them for 10hrs? As to the recent blogs, we need help.

Very imformative said...

Surely, all of this is going to come out into the open eventually.

What would be the gain from this? And who would have something to gain from it?

Is the LGC aware that one of their attorneys plays ball this way and cheats in order to win?

Are the selectman aware that the town attorney has lied in court and doesn't seem to be acting in a way that is in the best interest of the towns residents and tax payers?

And if not they do now - Don't they ?

So I wonder what they will be doing about this?

It's apparent that what they don't read hear themselves that someones tells them.

Like a previous person said -

This Ain't Gonna Go Away!!!!!!! Best to deal with it and get it over with.

Hmmmm..... said...

Let's see if we can get this straight.

The WPD gets a call for a safe in the river from a recent burglary at a Mass post office?


Lt Roberts gets the call, checks out the scene and then refused to get out of his cruiser and investigate?

Because he was too lazy to do his job, without even getting out of his car he determines that there isn't anything important there and he leaves?

He then, at the end of his shift passes the buck - I mean information onto the next guy so that he doesn't have to deal with it?

Anyone who watches any of the crime or police forensics shows knows they can catch murderers who through their weapons in the river, ocean or pond or wherever by getting prints they lift.

If Roberts is that bad at knowing his profession there is no question he isn't fit to collect a pay check.

Hmmmm - something doesn't sound right - there's all kinds of stuff belonging to the Federal Government by way of the US Post Office and yet another officer is up to the job but Roberts isn't?

And all this is in reports?

And all this was brought up to Chief Phillips and he didn't do anything about it?

Oh wait ... Chief Phillips interviewed the guys at the highway department who admitted to taking some items from a crime scene and he did nothing?

Wait again, Roberts said the safe had no evidentiary value - if that's true how was Breau able to trace the safe (the one with no evidentiary value) back to the Post Office it was stolen from in Massachusetts?????????

HUH?????????????? And this is all in the official reports?

These are some quite amazing police officials.

Anonymous said...

To Help - Good luck - apparently no one thinks anything is wrong. Even the AG's office doesn't seem concerned enough to want to do anything.

No way! Jose! Can this continue! said...

I am not going to divulge my name right now but I have had a long phone conversation with the assistant attorney general office about Winchester, Stetser, the selectmen and Bart Mayor. This person told me to compile the information and send it to his attention, AG Office State Capitol. I mean this is before all the theft by the highway dept and the police dept.. It looks now that is just what we have to do to save our town.

Anonymous said...

Dale Gray and John Gromalo were well aware of their employees taking the bolt cutters and strong box. Read the report.

outsider looking in said...

This town is rotten to the core, from your Board of Selectmen to your Land Use Board and now information to prove your Police Department from top to bottom and Highway Department are liars and thieves. How long can you afford to allow these things to continue to happen. My God, you people need to clean house and quickly. How long can you all sit by and do nothing? What's wrong with the people in Winchester that they condone this type of behavior, what are you all stupid or don't any of you care?

What a mess you're in said...

Wake up Winchester,your town is burning down all around you and you sit there on your thumbs doing nothing.No wonder your town is the way it is, you people are a sorry bunch if you don't take action now. With what I have read on this blog, if only half of the information is true you have serious problems with corruption, mismanagement and a totally unreliable police force. What is it going to take for the people in Winchester to smarten up and take control of your town?

The Truth Will Prevail said...

To No Way! Jose! -

Glad to hear of another person with information and guts enough to tell someone who has the authority to stop this ........

It looks to me like everyone is waiting for the AG's office and the FBI to do some investigations (unless maybe they already are) and then they will do a massive cleanup by locking down the towns records, bringing in search warrants and handcuffs and getting this town out from under the criminals running it.

Federal banking laws broken, state laws broken, unethical behavior, criminal activity, cover-ups .............

An open statement to all those people in town who pride themselves of their position and stature by running and controlling the town government –

You will have to do a lot of explaining and there is no way you will be able to keep your stories straight because there is so much evidence and proof of your wrongdoing that any rookie investigator could crack this case wide open.

Give up, come clean and admit your part in the wrongdoing. It looks like things are only going to get worse for you and not better. You all must have trouble sleeping well at night knowing it’s only a matter of time before all your lies and deceit become public and you are the ones forced to succumb to the scrutiny of those who do have the power to force the truth from you and can make sense of the non sensical.

So be it, you all had opportunities and refused to listen.

Anonymous said...

Remember this folks...the law enforcement community gets its authority from the people. Every police officer in the state learns this during their first few weeks in the academy. The academy preaches this without fail.

For those of who are following this blog, review the other blogs regarding the Winchester Police Department. There is a ton of factual information, documentation , letters to and from AG's Office. Make no mistake about it folks the corruption,evidence distruction,unethical practices of police officers which include untruthfulness and theft stems back twenty years. At best, the Winchester Police Department is a rogue organization. Just remember this folks the more you dig the more skeletons you will uncover and with the lingering possibility of exposure there will be more deception and lies and cut throat practices.

Here is a question for the GOOD Citizens of Winchester to ponder.

Is it possible that Gary Phillips has information about Sherman Tedford that pertains to something unethical or illegal Tedford did between 2000-3003. This may explain why Tedford gives in to Phillips.

The following information is factual and true: Reppucci was terminated for giving information that was supposedly locked in Phillip's office to a civilian. Reppucci had a key to Phillip's office and unrestricted access, yet Phillips openly bragged that when he was the Chief of Police in Jaffrey he deliberately set up one of his police officers Aaron Thompson and ultimately fired him(Thompson)for taking a ficticious letter/memo which Phillips himself composed to see if Thompson was supposedly breaking into his office.

Phillips is a deceptive, lying, manipulating and a backstabbing individual who dupes his Board of Selectmen into believing whatever he tells them.

With no insult intended...the citizens of Winchester are fools,the BOS is composed of ignorance,the Police Dept and Highway Dept are a den of thieves and liars and the Town Administration and its employees are blind mice looking the other way to protect and preserve their posh positions...what a farse this has all become.

Go JOSE said...

New face in the sidewalk plow today while the water truck sat in the town parking lot. I thought water was helping hwy in bad weather, or maybe a friend needed a job. In all the years I've lived in Winchester I've never seen such a poor job of clearing around the hydrants. Maybe some of the hwy guys needed the day of to seek legal counsel.

Anonymous said...

To anonymous - you must have meant 2000 - 2003 - not 3003.

What is the significance of those years?

I heard that Gary Phillips acted in concert with the then BOS to get the former Chief ousted – that was Chief Sheats who now works in Troy.

As the story goes, Phillips helped set him up and then ratted to the BOS when he did something wrong as was requested of him by the BOS.

His reward was to get the Chiefs position.

Now that sounds pretty crooked to me.

Things are making sense.

Ziegler getting a weeks paid vacation
when he didn't have any vacation time proves the police department is running the town.

Did Phillips fudge the books himself or did he have the accounting department help him. Is Sharon or Amy involved? With Bob's blessing?

Anonymous said...

To Anonymous at 3:27 may I point out a couple of issues. If you are an employee and you need a job you will do what you supervisor tells you to do; even if you know something is fishy. Who are you going to complain to the BOS? I don't think so! It is also my understanding that the supervisor bears the responsibility of telling people what to do.

I think that it would be in our best interest to call for an audit of the town.That is going to cost some dollars but well worth the peace of mind. We need to know our cash position.

Think about it people the deliberative session is coming. There is no excuse for you to be at home. People on this blog have raised concerns and informed you of situations. You have to step up to the plate and do your thing. Remember I do not want to hear the negativity of "living in Winchester" it can be a great town if we take it back.

Thank you blog. Have a great day!

Anonymous said...

Regarding the police and Chris Roberts in particular not wanting to do their job has anybody talked Ben Kilanski?

He had 2 kayacks stolen and reported it to the police.

Chris Roberts got the call and when he got there he refused to get out of his cruiser.

Ben pointed out to him evidence left behind by the thiefs and Roberts still refused to get out of his car and get it or do anything to try to find out who might have done this.

Seems like Roberts is one lazy cop who won't do anything if it seems too hard for him.

Unless of course he's just numb and dumb.

Then again maybe he's both.

He has a pattern of blowing off his duties.

And him and Phillips are running things ever so properly? Not.

Anonymous said...

Hey Robert's, have you burned any dope recently in your bonfire like you did while working in Hinsdale? Has anyone informed the AG's Office about this.(Don't hold your breath folks with Hinsdale PD's integrity. After all they hired Sepe without reviewing her personnel file at Winchester. Her file was most likely not reviewed because Todd Faulkner and Sepe worked together for Golden Cross Ambulance for years and have been close friends. The ethical thing Faulkner should have done was to ask another department who did not know Sepe to conduct her background investigation to keep it professional and legetimate. Who knows, maybe Faulkner would have reviewed the accident and damage she caused to the Expedition (which happened weeks before Hinsdale hired her) while she was backing into the fire bay and the fact she did her own accident investigation as opposed to asking another officer from another agency to investigate the accident and damage to ensure the integrity of the investigation.

Yes folks this is true and factual. In fact a secondary investigation was conducted and discredits Sepe's version.

Folks...Police Officers do not investigate their own accidents because of the conflict of interest. This is another story for another day folks.

Was Roberts disciplined and receive a fine for knowingly driving the Expedition nearly two months past its rejection date? I seriously doubt he was even questioned about his poor decision and intentional violation of the law let alone getting fined.

Had enough citizens of Winchester or do you want to read more?

Ashuelot Town Crier said...

Our Water Department is a JOKE!

ashuelot said...

No one would dispute that, not even the selectmen.

Very observant said...

You can look right through those who run this town and see what they are really made of - look straight into their eyes when you talk to them as they lie and you can see that they are very uncomfortable when looking back at you. They know that we know.

glad I don't live there said...

Geez, what an ugly place to call home, Winchester surely is in need of a complete makeover.

not stupid said...

Once again they attempt to take credit for something they had no part in. They may not know how to do the math; but we sure do and none of it adds up to back up their claims. So just where did that money go ?

Anonymous said...

The best Xmas present we all could get this year would be for these liars and thieves to resign and not come back.

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year. Did a search of real estate listings for Winchester, and came up with nearly 100. This town is bleeding to death, and the people running the place are totally clueless. Would imagine with the tax bills due, that there will be more, and probably a batch of foreclosures to boot. The taxpayers need to get out to the public budget hearings in the next couple of weeks and let the budget committee know their feelings about spending. The selectman are defiant in their attitude towards all of us. Do not vote to get rid of the budget committee, or it will get worse. It is the only bumper we have.

Go Rockingham VT said...

The town of Rockingham VT laid off 3 people in the town hall. We should at least make a couple of our town hall employees part time. Combined water and sewer, we don't need the road agent, John and Donald can get the job done. PD needs to be looked at, its costing us too much, they are the laughing stock of Cheshire County. Imagine a board of selectmen that are willing to make the hard choices.

Anonymous said...

Rockingham, Mondadnock, Brattleboro, etc., etc. are taking the chore by the horns, and doing what need to be done to keep budgets in check. Winchester seems to be the only place on the planet that the governing boards are oblivious to the economic reality that has been created in the past few years. We have a tax rate that would cause a major upheaval in other communities. Let's get with the program and do what we must do. Let's get rid of the spenders.