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The opinions expressed are of my own individualy and are not to be interpreted as official of any governing body. Comments from readers are also of their own opinions and will be edited only if the content is harmful or non constructive to any individual. It is important to share information and thoughts on political process so that we may discuss issues that effect us all.
27 comments:
Why are people in Derry letting their tax rate get so out of control with only town employees getting more?
My neighbors a couple of doors down just had to move because he and his wife could no longer pay the tax increases after ten years here. Their taxes grew to be more than their mortage.
They were nice people and were very upset that this was allowed to happen by Derry politicians. I will miss them and so will the town.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
See ya probably next week.
Brian,
Happy New Year to you and all.
Sorry to be right back at it but we finally saw the true colors of Coyle and Doug in the what they think is the purpose for the charter commission on the 21st. By calling out the Town Council majority as unethical and wanting to break the 4 vs. three majority using changes to the charter is beyond even your duplicity.
What cheek and smarm. Boys, you are so transparent as to either project that you believe everybody in Derry to be stupid or you really don’t care.
Changes to the charter is to better the form of government in Derry. It is not to use parliamentary maneuvering to achieve the agenda that you cannot win at the polls.
Coyle you even caught yourself when you started to proclaim that "you can fool some of the people...."
Anon 7:39,
Please remember that the town council CUT taxes by over $600,000 from the previous years budget. We eliminated 13 positions from the town side. And most importantly I highly doubt that your neighbors lost their home because of Derry politicians but more like the recession that everyone is feeling!
Same to you Jay!
I'd like a discussion of the zoning issues in town. Particularly related to the land surrounding the Robert Frost Farm site and why our Town and Conservation Commission have not taken a more active interest in acquiring or protecting this land from development. Recent discussion has the surrounding land possibly being rezoned General Commercial. This site is a true historical treasure and the surrounding land should be protected. It would be horrible for this site to suddenly have a Super Walmart or a Row of Fast food restaurants surrounding it!
BC- Taxes in Derry are almost 2X that of other towns. Based upon your answer to 7:39 it appears that you don't find this to be a problem. Of course the recession is causing people out of their homes but I know people who are on fixed incomes who are leaving to flee our taxes.
Did your vote on union contracts force people out of town? How about on pumping more money into 4A? Hard to tell which straw broke a taxpayer's back but our leaders (Town and school district) have very little to be proud of.
anon 1:54,
The planning board is working on creating an overlay historic district to look at that area near the Frost Farm. General Commercial has already been zoned around that area in the past. One of the areas where water and sewer can go in the future.
anon 2:57,
Just to let you know. Yes i voted for the fire contract. But did you also know that we trimmed OT budget lines for fire and eliminated 4 positions? you dont want to speak on that i bet.
And as far as 4 A is concerned, we used fund balance to pay for the EIS... Stop trying to paint a picture that Im spending and people have to leave their homes because of my votes..Your insulting peoples intellegents.
2:57
God have we not been through this 100 times?
Derry is bigger than surrounding towns, Our schools, services and quality of life offer differences than surrounding towns.
You came up here before electricity and paid nothing in taxes. Now things are different. Get over it!
The decisions to allow Derry to grow to it's current size were made by people who for the most part were stupid and are now dead, not Brian.
Many of your neighbors sold property that are now homes, many cheap enough that they do not pay their fair share of taxes vs. the services and education they consume.
And you still think Derry can save it’s way out of this? Who is feeding you this fertilizer, leaving you in the dark like a mushroom? Doug Newell?
We must grow our way towards prosperity. That will take both sacrifice and investment.
If you can’t get that through your squash at this point or if you think, like Dimmock, that your house in 2010 can have the tax bill it had in 1980 you are just as clueless as him!
2:57 here. So "fund balances" don't come from the taxpayers? Washing it through a budget suddenly makes it yours to squander as you please?
Yes BC people are leaving their homes because of your votes, your friends votes and the votes of the school board. Together you are spending $110 to $120 million.
What is the total fire budget this year and what was it last year? BC please don't give us BS about positions and overtime, we pay in dollars. Did your votes cause the fire budget to go up or down?
1:00 pm let me make sure I've got this right...
When you say "Derry is bigger than surrounding towns" are you suggesting that our high tax rate is caused by being a large community? How do you account for the fact that the only 3 larger communities all have lower tax rates?
But then you say: "We must grow our way towards prosperity." This makes me very confused. If our higher taxes are because we are bigger, you propose growing to lower taxes???
Oh yes, can you reply without personal attacks? We have all become bored with those. Please don't bore us.
Brian, I am not surprised that other people have spoken out on your blog about taxes in Derry.
I would guess there are hundreds of similar stories to my neighbors that had to move because their tax bill became too much for them to handle.
I don't know all the facts because I have to work so much to make ends meet. But I have heard about votes that made no sense to me.
We pay our town employees way too much. For example, are our firemen really worth what they make when surrounding towns pay less and have more expensive homes to protect?
I think Derry politicians sell out for union votes all the time which is why they get paid so much. My former neighbor and his wife both had good jobs and felt this way. In the end they were forced out by it, no matter what you say Brian.
Finally Brian please learn to spell. I can't believe you wrote this: Your insulting peoples intellegents.
1 term is anough you don't need to run again.
Merry Xmass / Happy New Year, and please run again.
More activity on this blog would be appreciated. But, only if you force people to leave their names.
Otherwise people say things they would never say in "public."
Nick Arancio
6:42
Once again you can't comprehend what you have read. Because of the mass influx of cheap accommodations that demand more services that they produce taxes that Derry is upside down. Unless we are willing to let rural houses wait for fire and ambulance support, less travelled roads be plowed less frequently and school classrooms be packed to the gills how do you propose that we save our way to prosperity?
We can fire town and service personnel. Watch the fisticuffs the first time somebody in East Derry loses a house or and elderly one passes away when it takes 15+ minutes for the ambulance to respond.
We can make little cuts that will not add up to beans in the grand total of the yearly budget but the political will won’t allow the massive cuts that will actually yield the “savings” you seek. You keep clinging to this thought although time and time again it is proven that in general expenditures go up over time not down.
Making Derry the most desirable place to live and work, boosting housing values and lowering the tax rate (although the dollars won’t drop much) is the only hope for this town.
It will not matter to me. I am leaving shortly as Derry will no longer fit my lifestyle. But to those who feel compelled to stay, you should recognize that 20 years have been wasted fighting the same battle we face today. I bet you dollars to donuts that when I stop at exit 4 for gas on a ski trip in 20 years, Derry politicians will be still pissing into the wind and wondering why they keep getting wet.
Lack of leadership. Look it up someday.
6:01 OK I'll agree with your conclusion there has been a lack of leadership. (Have you stepped in to offer your services?)
Also I'd agree that we need something besides a residential base for our taxes.
The possible savings however are measured in millions; just compare our costs to similar sized communities.
You also seem to miss the housing value formula; our housing values are going down (taking with them our life savings) because of Derry's tax rates. Mortgage payment = interest, principal and taxes and is often capped by the borrowers ability to borrow. As the tax portion increases the amount someone can pay for principal declines. This lowers bids on houses and therefore home values.
How is Derry going to be "the most desirable place to live" if taxes make it unaffordable? Also you might note that the high taxes are chasing away the most affluent leaving the town to be filled with people who consume more services than they produce in taxes. Have you seen many $500k+ homes in town? No and you are not likely to in the near future.
Sounds like you are moving to MA. I think you will find it fits you better.
Anon 7:38,
Fire & EMS Budget:
2006- $12,551,758
2007- $12,255,414
2008- $10,373,972
2009- $10,202,444
2010- $10,104,937
So it appears to me that the budget has been steadily decreasing.
Celtic,
Do those figures include capital items specifically a new fire station that was considered? You have left us stunned (and suspicious). You wouldn't try to lie with statistics would you?
Oh Celtic,
You have been playing games with numbers. In 2006 and 2007 there were $2MM transfers skewing these budgets. I suspect that these had to do with that fire station that we really really needed but somehow lived without.
Sorry but "you can't fool all the people all the time" especially when most of the people are brighter than you.
So 9:16 your “formula” is that we let the town services erode, roads crumble, cheap housing, lots of apartments stuffed to the gills with ESL students and then when taxes are at their lowest ebb ….Derry will be a desirable place to live.
Gee after 70 years that “formula” has almost worked for Lawrence.
No I am not moving to MA. There, the idiots truly run the asylum. But I am leaving here.
Derry could have made it fellas’. Could have been so much more. But Derry fiddled while it burned. Now it is just the reactionaries on both sides, left to squabble over a dwindling quality of life, each side so convinced at the righteousness of their convictions that neither can see the equality of blame destroying what they proclaim to defend.
Anon 1:08,
All of these numbers came directly from http://www.derry-nh.org/Pages/DerryNH_Finance/
Look for yourself!
Oh, and why would the budget include money for a fire station that was never built? Clearly it want's approved or budgeted.
Celtic...
Is there or isn't there a $2 million transfer embedded in that budget inflating the earlier years' data and making the trend shift down?
When you are caught putting a spin on numbers the correct behavior is silence and people will eventually forget about it.
Poor ole Celtic.......
He's just spinning tales full of Blarney for the wee minded chowderheads that don't yet realize Derry was sold out by our small time politicians to the developers of condo's, apartments and multi-family housing long ago. Thankfully, they are now gone for the most part; the economy took care of that, but their legacy lives on.
Now various labor unions and the schools are spinning out of control. That's the next fire that needs to be put out.
Remember this when you vote.
Anon 2:43
If you take out the $2 mil for those two years the cost has still gone done.
Not too bad considering the yearly increases in healthcare costs and wages.
8:42 are your comments part of a well orchestrated campaign? Do you belong to the fire union? See the other blog thread.
Anon 8:42
A budget gives you a guideline for how much money is allocated. So not spending the money doesn't mean the costs went down, it means you didn't spend it.
If they allocated $2M for a building and didn't build it, then your costs didn't go down, you just didn't build a building. Perhaps because it wasn't needed.
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