MINUTES of the BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING
WORK SESSION
Wednesday February 10, 2010
Board Members Present: Gustave Ruth, Chairman; Sherman Tedford; Roberta Fraser; Kenneth Berthiaume; and Kenneth Gardner. Also present Robert Gray, Town Administrator and Ellen Cole, Executive Assistant. Also present is Sharon Haley, Finance Supervisor; Peg Tatro, Treasurer; and Karey Miner, Deputy Tax Collector. The meeting convenes at 10:00AM.
1st Order of Business: Cash Flow/Budget Review
The Board scheduled a work session today to discuss revenues, cash flow and accounts payable to date, and to receive input from the Sharon, Peg, and Karey, who work with these figures on a daily basis. Sharon has prepared a forecast of payroll, school, & contractual obligations, including benefits through June 30, 2010; Peg has prepared the general fund checkbook balance; and Karey has prepared collections as of February 9, 2010, showing what is delinquent for taxes and what she anticipates as a timeframe for revenues to come in through end of June 2010. The Board reviews various paperwork, and believes as of today’s date the Town is short $500,000.00.
Karey created a comparison cash flow chart for February-June for 2008 ($3,488,020.59) to 2009 ($4,240,708.77). Karey informs the Board that in her experience, a lot of money comes in at the end of February because people use their income tax return to pay bills. In April, Karey will lien and deed properties. As of January 31, 2010, the budget printout shows 36.10%, which means the Town has spent 4% more and should have 40.32% remaining in the budget. Peg informs the Board that the Town needs to make four more payments to the school. Peg informs the Board of uncollected revenue as follows: $1,180,573.00 in 2008; $1,383,674.00 in 2009; and $1,503,536.00 in 2010. Selectman Tedford understands that based on Peg’s numbers the Town has $200,000-300,000.00 less cash. Peg says the Town is always playing catch up, but there is always a carry over of funds to the next fiscal year. Bob adds these numbers show a trend in the wrong direction, and believes it is prudent in theory to think we’ll be short on cash. Sharon makes the Board aware that as of February 9, 2010, $200,000.00 has been spent from the General Fund for APs. Selectman Tedford does some calculations with the understanding that there is roughly 20 weeks left of the fiscal year, with $878,000.00 left in the operating budget leaving $43,900.00 available each week. Sharon works the healthcare, payroll and insurance numbers with Selectman Tedford leaving $15,000.00/week available for APs. Sharon anticipates an additional $124,000.00 in revenue for the rest of the fiscal year. Peg says Water and Sewer are keeping up with their own funds and are up-to-date. Karey shows a printout of everything outstanding in the amount of $1,503,536.41, but finds the average monthly cost to be the same as last year.
The Board reviews the budget expenses and Sharon points out the departments which are overspent, to include property records, highway, legal, and building maintenance, to name a few. Bob informs the Board of a heavy stream of purchase requisitions for the highway, and the Board requests Dale to specify the vehicle on each req. The Board asks Bob to advise Department Heads to be more cognizant of what is bought because the numbers tell only $15,000.00/week is available for APs. Sharon explains on average we spend $300,000.00/month ($75,000.00/week). All parties involved are perplexed that the budget projection figure is off by 4%, and these calculations are not adding up. The Board decides the reduction in the operating budget ($80,000.00 less this fiscal year) and collection of revenue down, is creating a cash flow decrease of at least $200,000.00. The costs of doing a business have gone up, but the Town’s revenues are down significantly. At the end of March, the Board would like to be within the 25% available projection range for the budget. If the numbers are not looking good, Chairman Ruth suggests the Board review the budget line by line for each department. Karey reiterates that the Town liens properties in April for unpaid 2009 taxes, and the Board speculates that if she liens more properties, that would indicate the Town is not collecting a cash flow. Roughly 10% is delinquent taxes every year, and $837,547.00 is outstanding for 2009 taxes which were due January 1, 2010. Tax bills will go out in June, and money will be coming in. The Board would like to set a limit on monthly spending for next year, and Selectman Gardner suggests services may need to be reduced to work with the budget that we have in place. Priorities will need to be made for each department to stay within the percentage, and if the numbers don’t work, services and/or staff may be cut. The Board believes they will need to sit down with Department Heads to manage the budget before the next fiscal year. Selectman Tedford makes a motion to revisit this financial discussion at a work session on the last Wednesday (31) in March, 2010. Selectman Gardner seconds the motion and it passes 5-0.
32 comments:
When you continue to spend like drunken sailors and have no fiscal responsibility, is it any wonder why figures don't add up and there's no money? Maybe if those we trusted to make the right decisions hadn't given out raises, bonuses and cola's to everyone, refrained from wasting $250,000 chip sealing roads, buying the chief a new cruiser to drive home in, Dale Gray another new truck, that he won't take care of and on and on it goes; perhaps there wouldn't be a shortage of our tax dollars. Maybe our taxes wouldn't be so high to cover all of the unnecessary spending and people would be able to afford them and not fall behind. Maybe it's just a case of simple math and common sense; or maybe it's just time we need a change. As Bob Gray says,"these numbers show a trend in the wrong direction," time we righted the ship and got the town headed in the right direction don't you think?
And even worse, this area hasn't hit bottom yet. We are in for more bad times in NH. Everyone in town knows where to make cuts and changes, maybe its time to listen to Mr. Berthiaume boys and Girls. Looks like the country clubs in trouble.
When the candidates get up and say we have to let our dept heads get us through this troubled times, you will know who not to vote for. I heard there was a line at the town clerks window today, maybe five days instead of three would help with that. With part time people i wouldn't mind waiting for service.
Good Morning! What ever happened to encumbering the funds for the town. You know set aside the appropriate dollars for each department. Obviously the town highway department has trouble following a budget or taking care of the equipment. Ladies and gentlemen I would think twice before I handed Mr. Gray the keys to a new toy. he can't take care of the one that he has. Perhaps we should consider outside contracting as the town would not be responsible for the fringe benefits. Once again be very careful in your choice when you vote as we need someone or two who have showed us that they are not afraid to stand up and be counted.
Have a great day! Thank you informer for the information.
Feb.20th, sat. Sentinel,Business page19, states facing $1 trillion pension gap. One of those states is NH, one of the reasons is police detail work by our local and state police. They know they have a big problem in Concord but they cant find a way to fix it because they don't want to piss anyone off.
Looks like the department heads think this is some kind of a game.
Looks like our group of wunderkids need to head across the parking lot for some simple math lessons. When you only have one dollar, you can't spend twenty. Robbing Peter to pay Paul as the old saying goes, doesn't work out. Just ask those of us who struggle every day because of your incompetence and arrogance and spending sprees. Every year you come looking for more and more money and every year most of us go deeper and deeper in debt because of the unwise decisions you make. Time for all of you who can't add to hit the streets and allow this town and it's people some relief from all of this spending.
The first thing these guys need to do is fire every single department head who has gone over budget again this year. Start with Dale Gray, whose dept has been in the red thousands of dollars the past few years even though they budget highway more and more of our tax dollars he can't stay out of the red. Margaret Sharra who has cost this town thousands and thousands of dollars in legal expenses because of decisions coming out of her planning board. It is no mystery to anyone why, she bullies the other members into doing whatever she says and wants time and time again. Roberta Fraser, she thinks every spending bill that comes across the selectmens desk is a great thing and continuously makes the motion to accept it time and time again. Why hasn't she paid her taxes for years, is she any better than the rest of us? Our town is full of people hired out of friendship not because of their experience or knowledge and it shows. We have become the laughing stock of the area with all of the problems we face with our town government and police depts. This has got to stop and stop now. We need new people to run this town and like the Informer says right the ship. C'mon people get off your butts and get to the polls and vote in some of these new faces. We surely have nothing to lose by trying something different. More of the same surely don't work for any of us.
Take a close look at our Board of Selectman - the Chairman is a retired pilot. We can guarantee that he lost money in the stock market (everyone did), but he still doesn't see the writing on the wall - because it hasn't effected him yet.
We have two union retirees who have no worries about where their retirement funds are coming from. And then we have one that is a working Mom, who despite the fact has fallin on hard times, continues to send her children to private school in Keene and take multiple vacations through out the year. She still has not paid off her taxes for 2007, 2008 or 2009 and we have her minding the "cookie jar".
We, the tax payers, have been screaming at them for how many years now? Eight (since our last property evaluations)? We are struggling to pay these exorbitantly high taxes - but they simply aren't listening.
How many more homes have to be foreclosed on? How many more houses do you need to put liens on? How many more houses do you need to sell at auction? We simply can not afford to pay the rate you keep forcing on us.
We need fiscally responsible individuals on the board. Please vote for BOB DAVIS & MIKE TOWNE as our new Selectman!
They THINK they need to sit down with Dept heads ? Geez, where the hell have they been? The overspending has been going on for years and NOW THEY THINK. Well too late, enough is enough, do us all a favor and step down, it's evident none of you has a clue.
Anyone notice the "for sale" sign in front of Ken Cole's house? Looks like he's jumping ship before the proverbial _ _ _ _ hits the fan.
One of the problems we have here in Winchester is called indifference, a lack of interest in what goes on in town. Out of over 3000 registered voters and another 1000 or so inhabitants who aren't registered, about 900 went to the polls last year and made the choices that affected us all. Out of those 900, a majority were supporters of the current people we now have running this town into the ground for their own personal gain. They know this, they know that it's apathy and ignorance that keeps them in power and that they don't have much to worry about come election day. Most people who show up at the polls vote for names they recognize or who their neighbors say is the one to vote for. This happens in most small towns across America; but unlike many towns, ours is run by a small group who are prospering off the rest of us with no care to what is happening to us. Look around, your neighbors are suffering, some aren't there any more. Our kids aren't getting what they need to get ahead in this world, 40% passing is FAILURE; NOT an improvement. A 10 million dollar school budget and we don't even have a High School anymore for godsake! Until many more people get involved in what has been happening to this town for the past 6-7 years, then we are destined to make the same mistakes of the past. If you want to see things get better, want your children to have a future, want to keep your homes and have some civic pride; then get to the polls on election day and cast a vote for the people who have taken a stand to bring to light all of the information we have been reading about all year long. It's not made up, it's fact and we all know it and should be angry enough to want to do something about it. Our future is in your hands and mine and you can bet your last dollar I'll be in that ballot booth come March and I'll be casting my votes for changes.
Gotta laugh at these guys, on the one hand they continue time and time again to put spending bills on the ballot year after year. Then on the other hand they just can't seem to figure out where the hell the money went. What are they, complete idiots or something? You spent it fools.
Message to the selectmen;
To have the money that's suppose to be left over in the general fund each year you simply need to say no to this wide open spending you've allowed each of these dept. heads to keep getting every time they open their mouths and to fire those that can not stay within their budget.
IT'S THAT SIMPLE.
Any Questions or Concerns about the Town of Winchester should now be directed to the following committee: THE WAIP committee. Questions regarding the Town of Winchester and How it is being run, How wasteful department heads are being, How incompetent the police department is, How illegal decisions affect the taxpayers and homeowners of the Town of Winchester and any other valid and legitimate concerns should now be forwarded to that committee for further wasteful spending of our tax dollars and for guaranteed future avoidable expenses they will impose on us that they themselves could have been thwarted by following the laws of the land and common sense.
WIAP committee - Wasteful, Incompetent, Arrogant & Pompous here to insure you continue to be treated as ignorant and incapable of seeing past the BS.
Most every business in town open ed up today after the power was restored. Looks like another 3 day week for the boys and girls at the town hall. Maybe there going to come in Friday? If they don't it just goes to prove, part time will work.
It's unbelievable that these 5 people could mess up so much. First their estimate of what it will cost to fix the sewer plant is off by almost $400.000. now they are short somewhere around another half a million to keep the town running. How can we continue as a town to support such incompetence and hold our heads up? C'mon folks, it's time we sought good people to fill these positions and stop this nonsense, it's too obvious these 5 have no clue and are running us into a hole we'll never get out of.
Good Afternoon Blog,
I just have one comment. The select "people" remind me of a party goer. If you have to supply your own refreshments you are very careful about what you drink; however if the one who is hosting the party supplies the refrehments you party hearty at their expense. This is what the crew is doing. Never mind the fact that they can't balance a budget.Pay particular attention to the fact that the "blue wall" may do us in. We need people in this position that aren't afraid to say enough. Please pay particular attention to the extra money for the sewer. The engineers screwed up and why do we have to pay! Oh, and Mr. Gray can do without another vehicle to ruin even though we are going to have a spreadsheet that tells him when to service the vehicles. Will he do that or just continue with his arrogant attitude? Food for thought! Perhaps it is the town few ripping off the signs as they are afraid that we areusing our brains and have caught them all in the act of speaking with split tongue!
Have a great afternoon! Keep the information coming.
Has anyone else noticed that since this posting - NONE of the new minutes are online any more? Curious!
It's called censorship.
They probably have to send them (the minutes) to the town attorney first (more taxpayer money wasted) to make sure they contain nothing that will be harmful to their (the BOS) images.
If new fresh thinking, intelligent minded and unconnected people aren't voted in we will certainly have more of the same.
More waste of our hard earned money for the coffers of a select few and their pet projects and more reward for medicore at best performance from the ones making the decisions.
Does it really matter whether the minutes, which are highly slanted to make it seem like either the BOS is on top of things; or the PB is an exemplary group making the best decisions for our town's growth; or the CC, land grabbing a few more hundred acres for future sales and development all under the guise of conservation and hiding more in a "special fund" they won't talk about?
The writing is on the wall, plain as day, make no mistakes about it. These are people only concerned in doing what's best for them. They have formed their own little voting block of a few hundred people who all benefit in one way or another from those voted and placed into positions of power.
It is up to the rest of the townspeople in Winchester to right these wrongs, to get out and vote in people who are not part of this collective group of arrogant, self-serving, entitled collective, who have been living the good life off the sweat and equity of the town for so long that it's become their own private source of wealth.
If you like high taxes, poor service, lack of integrity and dishonesty, secrecy, indifference, being lied to and lived off; then go ahead and vote for the same individuals that have their hands in your pockets and support the status quo again this year.
If you're like those of us who are beginning to see the light and realize that the problems we face today in our town is all because of a nucleus of small minded people so intent on holding onto the gravy train they have created that they will stoop to anything to remain in power, then get out on election day and show that you have had enough. That they have been given chances time and time again over the years to get it right for all of us and still the same old beat goes on. ENOUGH I SAY, TIME FOR CHANGE.
VOTE for the NEW FACES, who have come forward to help us regain control of our town and our lives and give them your support. What have we got to lose? Three more years of the same lies and over spending or a chance to turn things around and make ourselves proud of our town once again? The choice is yours, let's hope you make the right one come March 9th.
They probably didn't have time to do it. Remember it was only a 3 day week again.
Ever hear of a service industry that works 3&4 days a week?
Take it for what its worth. One on the selectmen after the school board meeting told a school board member, if the teacher pay increases pass i will see that every employee that works for the town gets a pay increase and i don't care where the money comes from.
Take it for what its worth. One on the selectmen after the school board meeting told a school board member, if the teacher pay increases pass i will see that every employee that works for the town gets a pay increase and i don't care where the money comes from.
Does anyone know whats the beef with Dale Gray and Ronnies Truck Service?
This is to "Wow said" and others who are concerned about school costs. The district that I work for has asked us to reopen contract negotiations to review health care. We have decided to work two days for free next year instead. We all ready know that our health care costs will increase in the next contract. Our plan is to negotiate fewer inservice days, no salary increase, and pay the health care costs. We are doing this with the idea that everyone will get out of school earlier.
It boggles my mind that the teacher's here don't understand that some of them may have to go parttime or even be riffed. Yes riffed-class size be damned there may be a time when a combination class of 15 students for 3rd and 4th grade will replace a separate 3rd and 4th grade class. You all know that school numbers are down.
It is also unnerving that the school board would plant someone to increase the budget and not follow appropriate rules of order. If the district is following the national standards for financial education the third graders know that if you spend too much money someone will loose a job. It's just common sense.
Tuesday please vote for the lower budget. It will not harm the students at all. In fact in may train the district to not waste as much paper!You cut the budget $500,000 several years ago and no one was hurt. In fact I do believe that there were people in this town that could keep their homes.
Thank you blog. Please remember to vote on Tuesday.
Article8 town beach,why cant hwy take care of this. I know its hard to get much done in 4 hrs, but cut out the morning coffee and the two hr lunch and they may be able to fit this in. If they don't have the knowledge bring in one expert from the outside. The town beach is a town treasure and we have to keep it in good repair.
hey mikey and bobby - you LOSERS!
stick your heads back up your asses until next year.
thanks for coming to meet the candidates so we can see what walking human shitheads you both are and...oh, yeh...john keenan - you hulking asshole - crawl in a hole and die.
Mr. Towne spoke to us about the concerns Irene and Gus Ruth and Bonnie Leveille had over comments posted about them on this blog and wanted to have us all moderate comments a little closer than we normally do. We usually delete this kind of trash; but I thought you all should see what Mike goes through on almost a daily basis and yet he was willing to step up and serve even the likes of someone so crass.
Get a life garbage mouth no one wants to see or hear any more of your comments. Don't bother coming back.
I think it is very sad that adults can get so childish and evil spirited and that the likes of what has transpired can take place aupposedly in the name of improving Winchester. It is a shame that grown people stoop to what has transpired in this campaign. The saddest part is that both sides want the same damn ( oops I swore) thing for the town and instead of working together and hearing each other it has to stoop to lies and attacks and counterattacks. Without all of the bad mouthing, etc. you might even find that both sides want the same thing for Winchester. But it sure won't get done this way.
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