More good news!!!

This is why we are thinking of leaving Tewksbury enough is enough

Are you kidding me? How is it that we have the highest rates on everything and have nothing to show for it?
So, because water usage is down, (people are trying to conserve water), we have to pay more? When will the town realize we cannot afford more? The answer is never,

Really

This Town is absolutely ridiculous. We pay way to much for what we get.
How do they expect people to afford all these increases!!!

We honestly can't afford this. Everything is going up at such a rate that we're havivg to make difficult choices just to get by. Do we heat the house this month or do we try to fill the refrigerator. We need help, not higher taxes, it's really time to stop this trend.

I'm shocked... shocked to find that gambling is going on in there

Worse yet, we still have to borrow more money just to pay for ongoing maintenence. The rates need to be increased further to cover at least the $600k to eliminate future debt.

For what you pay in this town in taxes and fees, you get next to nothing for services. This town has been mismanaged for years and Montouri is not changing that trend. For those of you who are complainign about being taxed to death, if you voted Democrat, you reap what you sew and it's going to get far worse. Thank you for electing Marxists on every level of government.

What a great way to start my weekend! Re-invigorates me as I head out on the campaign trail! Time for an independent voice representing the people to work on getting these rates under control....April 6th is coming soon, get out and VOTE!

When I moved in 17 years ago my yearly water bill was $240! This year it will be @$600! For the same usage. Pathetic!

Seems we can't afford to keep a fire-station opened all year, streets in real good shape, how about that job done on the corner of main and Shawsheen, nice bump there. Fixed and it's worse..Just paid a bunch in excise tax for my Old cars, doesn't that go to the town??? Gov wants to Raise More taxes,Less take home pay, how much you spending on Gas lately!!!Yeah we're working to Help the middle class!!!Hear about any Pol's paying more for bennies??? Just like the Federal Gov, they NEVER get enough, but they keep getting voted in!!!

time to dig a well!

How is that usage goes down so they decide to charge more? That is completely ridiculous!

M Menard,
Please tell me your thoughts on getting these rates under control. I've heard enough politicians with their promises. Here is your chance. I am intrigued with you as a candidate, but would love to hear your plan!

So Mayberry(oops, Tewksbury) decides to raise another set of taxes. What a shock. This town is bleeding its residents dry while businrss continue to leave and empty stores are as popular as fire hydrants. People should be fleeing this town like it's on fire. Oh, and by the way, make sure you check that increased mortgage payment you nowhave. The town was not only nice enough to raise property taxes but they also decided now was a good time to update house assessments. My tasaxes went up over $400 for this year. Another Tewksbury money grab

Wait a minute...did Montouri really say that since the residents are conserving water in order to keep their personal costs down, they are rewarded with this increase? I am no politician, but I can't imagine that was the right way to approach this. Some of the highest water, sewer, property, commercial rates and taxes in the state and still have more empty buildings, closed fire departments, potholes, etc than any town near us. Government spending is a joke from the top down. Middle class won't recover until the government is overthrown and starts over with the bare necessities and learns how to control spending.

Come on everyone, maybe we should lay off the comments about lost businesses. Tewksbury did just entice a gun shop to open. Do I hear marijuana dispensary next, anyone.

I think Montuori should live in Tewksbury and pay some of these taxes I
He has implemented.

Worst mistake I ever made moving here. Driving down East Street is just plain shameful. Didn't we receive all sorts of $$ to fix roads? Is THAT what you call fixing? Shame, shame, shame on the people who supposedly RUN this town- most of whom do not have the "priviledge" of being residents.

The logic of raising water rates because we are using less is JUST EXACTLY one of the many reasons why this town will never get any better. Didn't it come to anyone's attention that the reason we are using less water is because we couldn't afford the last rate hike? Duh!

Town manager makes approx 170k a year which is probably 2-3 times the average of most families in town. Can you say out of touch with the realities the rest of us struggle with. No vacation for the family for the third year in a row because my taxes, bills, and cost of living are way too high around here. Sad situation!

Give me a break. My family can not afford to live in this town. I am still trying to catch with up with last year's increase.

The reason water usage went down is due to the water/sewer price gouging over the last few years. Did they really think we would continue to use as much water or not find other resources? Cause and effect.

Somethings need to change in this community or we are in deep deep doo doo, and right now we are sliding down that slope....House values are down, taxes are up, services are on the chopping block, 38 is a ghost town when it comes to commercial properties. When conserving translates into paying more, well, can the end be really far behind? We have how much in reserves? Wilmington has millions??

Just like all of you I am discouraged by this news. We all have been trying to conserve on water due to the increased rates. Those of us who are on both water & sewer are feeling the most pain. The fact is, people in this town voted for the expansion of the sewer system and the costs associated with it (I did not). It may have sounded like a good idea at the time. The payment for this was based on the assumption that we would use more water not less.

In addition, our re-taxes keep increasing and home values have been decreasing.
So the only recourse is to move out, but try to find a buyer. This can be virtually impossible unless you are willing to give your home away. Most of us are stuck.

Expansion is a good thing but there are limits. We should not spend more than we can afford. I wish people would think about this before they vote to spend money we don't have.

I think the lowest rate (under 35K gallons) should remain unchanged to promote water conservation. There should be some reward for those who actively conserve to try to control their water/sewer costs to prevent having to pay an increased rate.

To Jake, and anyone else who is listening. I want to do the simplest thing to help ease this burden....follow the advise of the committee that put the sewer together and bond it for 30 years as opposed to 20. The town was in a different place, along with the rest of the country, with the economy. We are cutting services because this is now not only on the users, but also the tax base. The materials in the ground are going to last for decades after it's paid off, why should we suffer now for a plan that will benefit future generations and increased home owners. Hopefully the town will become desirable again for transplants like myself if we can get these costs under control and our user base will grow. I am not an expert, but I know when we needed a new roof on the house, refinancing my mortgage was an option....pay more in the long run, but the leaks needed to stop and the kids still needed food on the table. Cutting services and over burdening our residents should be a last measure, despite what some of my opponents are saying.

Follow the advice, not "advise" (iPad doesn't let me scroll back to proofread). I did the roof myself with some friends, just using that as an example of taking a common sense approach to things and listening to those who may know more than yourself. My father would be embarrassed if he found out his son couldn't swing a hammer and put down some shingles to save his family some cash!

The power to tax is the power to destroy, John Marshall.

I'll keep saying this to the bitter end, water and sewer rates have nothing to do with usage. It has everything to do with folks who were stupid enough to allow the Enterprise Fund to be set up in the first damn place.

Enterprise Funds are actually slush funds, exempt from the controls of Prop 2 1/2. Enterprise Funds are used as back door tax increases.

When the TM got caught adding the Dog Catcher's salary to the Water Sewer Enterprise budget it became the metaphor for how spending can be hidden by these Enterprise Funds.

So I guess at some point we will have the highest water and sewer rates in Massachusetts, we are already at # 2.

AS Toqueville was credited with saying "People get the Government they deserve" it is the people who must accept responsibility for the bloated and crushing Government that can't get out of it's own way.

Next time someone wonders why we can't get businesses to come to Tewksbury you can put these soaring water and sewer rates at the top of the list.

But, then again, does anyone really care.

Who Me?
Malcontent and all around general nusiance.

We can barely afford living now..
wtf?

Isn't that nice that Mr. Montuori is going to "award" the Tewksbury Residents another increase. I think maybe Tewksbury should look into cleaning house. Instead of taxing the residents. So do I buy food this week?? or do I pay my bills....hhmmm....What should we tell our children because we can't afford to do any extra's because we have more increasing taxes and water rates. I know that my pay certainly hasn't increased. STOP TAXING AND INCREASING RATES IN THE TOWN AND LETS LOOK AT OTHER AREA'S THAT WE CAN CUT!

We are struggling with the outrageous tax rates and water/sewer rates in this town. The rates have been financially crippling. It's almost like we're being punished for living in Tewksbury. We can't keep up! We are not money fountains! The town leaders can't just bleed us every time they discover a mix-up in the books. Enough already!

Someone posted the salaries of town employees in the last week or so on the Patch. How about we trim some of the fat- have you seen some of those salaries? Did you know these salaries come with a low cost health package with tiny co-pays...How about you? My health insurance has a $5,000 deductible for my family and I pay a HUGE amount every week to be covered....Trim some of the fat and no, I am not dissing anyone on that list individually, all I am saying is that in a town this size the budget for salaries alone was close to 300 MILLION- WTH???

Sorry Dave, you are correct, I hit an extra "0":

Someone posted the salaries of town employees in the last week or so on the Patch. How about we trim some of the fat- have you seen some of those salaries? Did you know these salaries come with a low cost health package with tiny co-pays...How about you? My health insurance has a $5,000 deductible for my family and I pay a HUGE amount every week to be covered....Trim some of the fat and no, I am not dissing anyone on that list individually, all I am saying is that in a town this size the budget for salaries alone was close to 30 MILLION- WTH???

Town managers phone number, at the town hall....978-640-4300.....Give a call and leave a message....

Malcolm, I agree with you...it is almost always the wrong answer. I have no car payments nor credit card debt because I know that lesson all too well. However, a large purchase like a sewer system is a little different as I'm sure you'll agree. As much as I would like to, I couldn't pay cash for my house either. I do like your idea of consolidated debt for better rates, something I would explore if elected next month. I'm listening to the people, we all have a stake in this....I'm not running to make friends at town hall, I'm running to speak up for all of us who haven't given up hope yet.

How can Mr. Montuori or our town selectman do this with no regrets. Did they try and look for ways to trim the budget. Everyone has a budget and lives within it. We where told the sewer project would be self supporting. What happend to that promise? An 80% increase is insane.

Cecil: I am not "one in the know" but I DO know people that work for our fair town. I assure you that I am NOT one to pass on "BS and misinformation". I would urge you to look into it if you feel the need. I am certainly not misinformed or trying to start a fire where there is no ember. I DO know that the town healthcare is a MUCH better package than the average person.

Julia,

The problem being what you describe as "the average person". The question has to be asked, do the Tewksbury Town Employees get a lower cost health care than the Wilmington Town Employees, or Billerica, or Andover? Am I going to sit at home and be upset over the fact that Bill Gates gets better health care coverage than me? What is "average" to him? Donald Trump, Beyonce, Tom Brady? I have no idea what you do? Lets say for sake of argument that you are a computer programmer. Would "average" for your industry be other computer programmers? Would you seek the same benefit package as healthcare professionals? So if you want to stay angry and upset over comparing apples to dump trucks....please continue to do so. But in fairness to the people who patch my streets, protect my safety, and pick up my garbage...lets stick to comparing apples to apples. What do the other communities pay their municipal employees who do the SAME work? Isn't that fair?

Wow, you guys are not getting me at all. I'm not bashing anyone, I have teachers and policemen in my family...not to mention a trash truck driver. What I AM saying is that comparable to the"high deductible -health savings account" types of health insurance that seem to be they way big companies are going for their workers to save THEM money, our town's insurance is one of the better out there- that is all I am saying, If you are an HR person looking to save your bottom line, one of the first things you do is look into ways to shave health benefits- the costs are out of control. All I meant with my previous "trim the fat" post was there are ways to do that which do not involve raising taxes, assessments OR water rates every 6 months on townspeople. I stated earlier, I am not bashing anyone on the town payroll, so please do not attack someone's opinion. I work for one of the leading colleges in the country and our bennies are in no way comparable to our small towns.

There is NO WAY we will vote for any incumbent in the next town election unless they terminate the town manager ASAP.and refinance the sewer bonds.

Here are the facts. Total project approximately $100 million dollars ( Water $20 million/Sewer $80 million). The work has been done and the town has to pay the bills. End of story and there is no way around it. You can blame the sitting Selectman at the time because they were not honest with the residents when it went to Town Meeting to get approved. They knew the bettermen fee needed to be around $10-12 thousand dollars and mandatory hookupfor residents but knew it would never pass at Town Meeting so they came up with $3000 to get the project thru. To add insult to injury, here is how Cressman and selectman at the time decided to finance the project. Imagine a variable rate where the first ten years are extremely low and favorable and that was our first ten years of payments for the project. Now we are on the back end of our loan and the majority of it is due so we have to pay these ridiculously high rates. Now the real aggravating part of this situation is that we CANNOT refinance this loan until 2017. Cressman and the sitting Selectman at the time with their short sighted vision and defering payments have now saddled the town with this financial albatross. Stop blaming Montouri and current Selectman for these problems. They are left standing with the smoking gun and have to deal with it after Cressman and former selectman fired it. No candidate is going to come in and lower these rates becasue the bill is due and there is no way around this issue.

Can we petition for Montouri's resignation?

Get a petition going, I will be the first to sign it.

I would advocate for it because he is Obviously doing a poor job as evidenced by the shape this town is in. His reign has resulted in no noticeable positive change. In the private sector people lose their jobs for this type of performance.

Printing career.....self made Business Man.....Software Engineer.....ahhhhh....Man I just can't keep up with all of this.....so darn confusing.....

But then Malcontents aren't the best thinkers............

I agree Mr. Montouri is not really the one to blame on this issue. The former manager and former Selectman set us up for problems and then passed the buck to new leadership. My only issue with Montouri is his butchering of the fire department. I'm sure he has done other undesirable things but I can't blame him for the sewer mess. It was dumped on his lap, no pun intended.

Some here seem to think the town manager is the problem, maybe, maybe not. What I see is a new "old school network" starting to take shape. Palimeno, Wilson, Wentworth (who is a candidate for bos), Graffeo, they all come from the same table, call me paranoid, but we only have to look back the last 20 or so years ago and see what that old school network gave us. To answer a poster question from earlier, I believe Mr Wentworth was on the selection committee for town manager so maybe he can give you some thoughts on the selection and where we our now. I'd like to see a candidate question and answer series here on patch, what do say Mr Gilman?

Cecil, Typical man, I didn't paint them with anything, you have. I just made an observation. I also stated I may be paranoid, you sir, are. In the context of your last sentence, the word is hear, not here. Goodnight.

Found the paragraph from the Town Crier interesting. Further water usage is Down between more accurate meters and conservation efforts on the part of ratepayers, which Also Drives UP the Costs in a system that utilizes economics of scale. The Less water used counter intuitively the MORE water Costs the community in order to reach budget thresholds to pay down the debt..Goes on to say More Good News with a 6% increase next year. Don't like it??? Residents that neglect to pay their water bills face 14 percent interest on unpaid balances and liens on their property taxes...Can you say French Revolution???

I have received the information regarding the bonds from the sewer project, and sadly...it seems that "the Truth" was correct. Our prior boards chose to handcuff us with what seems to be a difficult financial situation for at least 3 to 4 years (2016 is the first bond that can be called in). There is also a page regarding Sutton Brook and our mandated payments for the future. Tewksbury was found to be 22% responsible from what the data indicates. Normally I would redact names and contact information but the format doesn't allow my software to alter the pages. Please direct questions to the Town Manager or Town Treasurer if you have questions about the information. I was not asked to keep anything confidential so I assume that this is free for public consumption. http://www.richardmenard.org/images/12580/201303080917.pdf

Tewksbury's bill for Sutton Brook was tabbed at 10 Million Dollars. Some sort of "credits" may reduce it a bit.