Tag: Taxes

Showing 16 articles.


The $300,000 Deception: Inside Sherman's Municipal Shell Game

Monday, May 18, 2026

How do you overspend a $14,000 routine maintenance budget by 2,000 percent? By quietly turning it into a slush fund to hide the escalating costs and delays of a $50 million school renovation bond.

The Dog Without Discipline: Inside Sherman's Uniparty

Sunday, May 10, 2026

Faced with a $50 million debt, Sherman's political establishment has merged into a single untamed faction. With the traditional Republican opposition acting as cheerleaders for the administration's spending, independent journalism remains the only check on municipal power.

Sherman's Phantom Opposition: How Sherman’s Republican Party Surrendered the Town

Friday, April 24, 2026

Faced with a looming $50 million debt and blatant FOIA violations by the town administration, Sherman’s local GOP has quietly laid down its arms and merged with the establishment.

Obfuscate, Spend, and Stonewall: administration's desperate, illegal scramble to hide the public ledgers

Saturday, April 18, 2026

With an $18 million budget referendum looming, the Sherman administration is actively stonewalling state FOIA requests to conceal the reality of a $50 million debt bomb. Inside the $1.16 million fiscal shell game, disappearing cyber-insurance, and a decade-long executive salary surge.

The 7% Selectman: What Sherman’s Glossy Budget Mailer Didn't Tell You

Saturday, April 11, 2026

A forensic look at the town ledgers reveals hidden executive raises, phantom funds masking explosive debt, and a $1.16 million illusion designed to kick Sherman’s financial reckoning down the road.

Second Act Economy

Monday, April 6, 2026

Sherman presents as the quintessential retirement enclave, but raw census data shatters that assumption. Welcome to the "Second Act Economy," where traditional retirement has been quietly canceled.

Sherman's Fiscal Failure: Paving Roads, Padding Salaries, and Sherman’s $50 Million Illusion

Friday, March 20, 2026

A forensic audit of Sherman’s budgets from 2013 to 2026 reveals a decade-long pattern of severe fiscal mismanagement. The public ledger shows that the administration hoarded a $2.3 million surplus, increased executive compensation by 78%, and prioritized paving beach parking lots—all while overseeing the catastrophic decay of the Sherman School, resulting in a $50 million infrastructure crisis.

The Illusion of Stewardship: Bankruptcies, Budgets, and Sherman’s $42.8M Trap

Saturday, March 14, 2026

A local administration manufactured a public safety panic over a drone. The real threat, however, lies in the town ledgers—where years of deferred maintenance and a hidden $2.3 million surplus quietly laid the groundwork for a generational tax burden.

2015 Question: The Leadership Failure Behind the $42.8M School Bond

Tuesday, March 10, 2026

A $42.8 million crisis is not an act of God; it is cultivated over time. As the town debates the staggering cost of the Sherman School, an uncomfortable question must be asked of the First Selectman's office.

The Sherman Caste System: The Quiet Weaponization of the Generational Divide

Sunday, March 8, 2026

The American Dream promises that a property deed brings political enfranchisement. But in Sherman, the administration has mastered a different civic contract: pitting the town against itself to protect the status quo.

The Ultimate Wealth Filter: The Reality of Buying Real Estate in Sherman, Connecticut

Friday, March 6, 2026

It boasts pristine woods, no commercial sprawl, and a deeply guarded culture. Buyers venturing into Sherman are in for a bureaucratic shock, high energy costs, and an unparalleled retreat into traditional New England.

Taxpayers Are Not ATMs: Why a $42.8 Million Community Investment Demands Respect

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Sherman taxpayers understand the value of a good school, whether we have children enrolled or not. We are all on the same side. But when we ask to see the ledgers for a historic $42.8 million bill, the administration treats us like outsiders whose only job is to write the check.

Demolition by Neglect: The Engineered Collapse of the Sherman School

Friday, February 27, 2026

Imagine entrusting your home to a caretaker, only for them to return the maintenance checks and let the house rot. That is exactly how Town Hall engineered the $42.8 million school crisis.

The Art of Demolition by Neglect: A $5.6M Surplus and a $42.8M Crisis

Thursday, February 19, 2026

How does a town sitting on a $5.6 million surplus suddenly need a $42.8 million blank check? We expose the decade-long strategy of "demolition by neglect" that starved the Sherman School to build a political rainy-day fund—and the fiscal hostage situation that forced taxpayers to foot the bill.

Sherman Weighs Extra $6.5M for School

Friday, August 15, 2025

Sherman voters will head to the polls on August 23 to decide whether to approve an additional $6.5 million for the “renovate as new” Sherman School project. The request comes after construction bids exceeded the original budget by millions, prompting concerns over the financial planning of the Board of Selectmen and Board of Education.

A 60% Raise: How the First Selectman’s Salary Outpaced Inflation

Thursday, April 3, 2025

Since taking office in November 2017, First Selectman Don Lowe’s salary has quietly climbed from $52,000 to $83,000. We break down the math behind this staggering 60% pay increase—a massive hike that completely detaches from the rate of inflation and leaves taxpayers footing the bill.