GilfordGrok

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A petition with 65 signatures has been delivered to the Selectmen's office, effectively stopping their plan for a sweetheart deal with the non-profit Village Knolls group-- at least until the voters have their say at a special Town Meeting.

Here is the language of the petition:

As provided in RSA 41:14-a, and pursuant to RSA 39:3, we the undersigned registered voters of the Town of Gilford request the Board of Selectmen call a special Town Meeting to vote on “the proposed sale” of Town-owned land on 43 Potter Hill Road. We believe that the land must be sold as quickly as possible, without any special conditions favoring specific organizations, to a qualified buyer that submits the highest sealed bid offer.

The opposition consists of two camps: Those who don't wish to promote more tax-free or tax exempt subsets of citizens here in Gilford-- folks that won't feel the full impact of spending decisions made on voting day; and those that believe the village is already crowded enough in the area occupied by the parcel in question, and are concerned about the heavy impact of another multi-unit development.

Now we wait for the Selectmen to schedule the meeting. Waiting until the next annual meeting is NOT an option, by the way...

Posted by Doug at 03:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

That's how much more the county will be snatching from a Gilford family of four this year to fund it's ever-expanding budget.

No matter where one looks, there are events taking place, and choices that need to be made, all of which will have a profound impact on our lives—especially our wallets! Whether it’s budget votes on the ballot, candidates that will either be frugal with our monies or spend it like drunken sailors, and the question of adopting SB2 (surely a no-brainer), this is the time of year when the power is in our hands. In many instances, the choices are pretty clear between business as usual, or adopting a new degree of scrutiny and oversight. The beauty of our system funded through property taxation here in NH is that almost the entire cost and function is controlled right at the local level, and residents, should they choose to avail themselves, have a large amount of say in the final outcome. Except for when it comes to Belknap County, that is. For that, we are at the mercy of 18 people….

By now, most taxpayers in Belknap County should have heard about the looming impact posed by the need for more funds due to reductions in revenues from the state. The county portion of our property tax bills is estimated to rise some 13%. This isn’t chump change. In this prior post, Skip has calculated that this will cost an average Gilford family of four an additional $136 in new taxes, on top of an increase generated no matter what happens at the March 11 budget voting. Laconia, under the constraints of the tax cap, will have to shave some $250,000 from its budget to stay compliant. Proportionally, the story is the same in the rest of the towns in the county.

And here’s the rub—not a single taxpayer from any of the communities has any say in the county budget whatsoever—except for the 3 County Commissioners and the 18 members of the County Convention, comprised of the delegation of NH house representatives. It is their shoulders that we rely upon to keep expenditures under control in order to maintain tax stability. They are the eyes and ears of the taxpayers of the county. Based upon my recent observations, they have failed us miserably.

Continue reading "$136. " »

Posted by Doug at 02:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Gilford Parks and Recreation Department is sponsoring four fun snowshoe hikes geared specifically toward families. These hikes are designed to get families out into the woods and fields for some fun exercise and socialization.

If you are in need of snowshoes, call ahead and shoes can be provided for the hike.

Posted by Doug at 04:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by Doug at 07:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Overall US Rate of Inflation: about 3.7% through September.

My Inflation Rate of My Gilford Property Taxes from July to yesterday:  19.7%

The latter is over 5 times the former.

And yours was? And your feelings about this are (hint: leave a comment!)?

Posted by Skip at 07:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Addressed to the editor, GilfordGrok,

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As I was searching for information about the Gilford salary debate, I found a web site that had a lot of helpful information. ( gilfordgrok.com ) This site has figures from credible sites for anyone to confirm. Or if you don’t have the countless hours to compile and compare this enormous amount of information, you could trust that our elected officials on the budget committee have "accurately informed" us! This site also has the letter from the selectmen, also elected officials, questioning the validity of the budget committees report. If , in fact, all of our "elected" selectmen feel the need to chastize the committee taxpayers have elected, and intrusted, to oversee spending, we have more problems than out of control spending. I would think the civil thing to have done would be to have privately compared notes instead of slamming the budget committee in the local newspapers for doing their job. It is quite embarrassing.  One would assume that the people on the budget committee must be, at least, a little offended.  Even IF the figures were a little off, it’s clear to see our town employees are over paid for their responsibilities.

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 It would appear that when an employee leaves the town that many times the new employee is brought in at the same, or close to the same salary as his predecessor. This may explain why our town administrator with about two years on the job is fourth highest, at $89,542.00, to the 30 or so towns compared. Lets not forget that he also has a fourth ranking assistant at $70,570.00. This may not be the explanation. I don’t believe anyone can even begin to explain the mega salary of our school superintendent! I DO know that my taxes are out of control.

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 Again the site gilfordgrok.com may help you come to your own conclusion about the generous salaries, don’t forget benefits, of our town employees.

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Doug Plummer, Gilford

Posted by Doug at 06:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Editor, GilfordGrok.com,

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Recent articles and letters have made me realize where Gilfords taxes are going. In two words, forbidden at town budget meetings, "wages and benefits". Many town and school employees are at the top of the pay scale for over 30 comparable towns. But taxpayers average incomes are down in the middle of that range. Don’t forget that many of these high paid employees are from Gilford therefore increasing the taxpayers average income. By continually funding these huge pay increases we are only making the big gap between taxpayers and town employees incomes even larger. These increases are far more, sometimes double, than the raise people receive in the private sector. We need to eliminate these raises by establishing a "cap" on the positions that are so far above the average. Even better, eliminate some nonessential positions.

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The last 3 year school contract had an unbelievable 8% increase every year. The latest one is, "only", over 4% but, we pay a higher percentage of their benefits. Meaning that the amount can go up within the contract. The town has requested an increase of 4.1% plus a 1.5%. Do the math, that’s a 5.6% raise while already being higher than most, if not all, of their counterparts in over 30 other towns. They need a big fat dose of "Reality"!

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I would like to think that some of them are aware that this has to be brought under control. People in the private sector wouldn’t pass up a raise. But, they rarely set or recommend the amount of it such as in the house and senate. Or in this case the Gilford administration and superintendent. Do any of them have a conscience? Or are they so arrogant that they believe they are worth so much more than their peers? It would appear that both the superintendent, with a mega five year contract, and the administrator, who doesn’t want to talk about "wages and salaries", are in this frame of mind. Gilford can’t afford this attitude running our town!

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Doug Plummer Gilford

Posted by Doug at 09:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Looking at a potential 10.9% budget increase for the town, selectmen are casting a very critical eye on spending for big-ticket items.

Selectmen also looked at a possible $1,500 cut to the executive portion of the Administrative budget. While the $1,500 is not much compared to the overall $447,000 total for the executive expenditure portion, it could be the most important $1,500 of the entire Administrative Budget.

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The $1,500 represents a proposed increase to the $7,500 already allotted as a collective stipend for the selectmen. Town Administrator Evans Juris recommended the increase. Juris said the selectmen do a lot for the town along the lines of investing time and being on call day or night, even being named in some lawsuits, and in his opinion this was a way to acknowledge the selectmen's efforts and compensate them for their time.

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When selectmen began discussing the line item, Selectman Connie Grant suggested that the increase be removed from the budget. Grant said with an increase of 10.9 percent to the budget the selectmen should be setting an example to the rest of the town, more can be done with less.

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Doten and Selectman Alice Boucher did not share Grant's feeling about the increase. Doten said the gesture was a nice way to show their added efforts and to take it away was a real slap in the face.

Selectmen elected to wait on voting on the line item until a public opinion could be gauged by the three on the subject of the increase.

Posted by Doug at 08:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by Doug at 04:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The loss of the Laconia Police Department's canine, Yogi, in July meant more responsibility was placed on the only canine left in Belknap County. That canine is Agbar, the Gilford Police Department's three-year-old Czech-born German Shepherd.

and Agbar are now first on the response list in towns where they used to be back-up and were called out twice in one week recently, one call being in Laconia.

Both the Laconia and Gilford canine units were called in the past to respond to several area towns' calls including Belmont, Alton, Tilton, Northfield, Loudon and Meredith. The first responder called depended upon the distance and location of the call. When asked about the added workload, Parent [K9 officer] said the pair have been managing just fine and are on call all the time. Parent's shifts re scheduled at night when most of the calls are made. "We are designed to be here when stuff happens," Parent said.

 

While Parent's calls will extend to other departments in Belknap County, particularly Laconia, the Gilford Police Department does not seek compensation for these service calls. Parent did note that the additional calls provide Agbar with valuable on-duty experience. Responding to assist other departments are considered good-faith efforts to help build relations between departments. "It's just law enforcement helping law enforcement," added Parent.

Posted by Doug at 05:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)