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  • Derek Ferland (Sunday, June 13 21 06:07 pm EDT)

    Jim, this situation reminds me of the time you accused the county of having a $3 million hole in our budget from surplus ProShare we received from nursing home operations.

    You were wrong then and you are wrong now.

    I don't actually know because I've never done it, but I suspect it would be hard to stash $13 million. Where is it Jim? It doesn't appear in our audit our in our financial statements. So where did it go? Your fascination with DRA forms notwithstanding, at some point, if your allegations are true, that money has be to somewhere, doesn't it? So where is it?

    The County has nothing to hide. I have nothing to hide. A couple of years ago I made multiple offers to you to sit down over a cup of coffee and answer any questions you had about how the county manages its finances. You declined.

    So I'll make the same offer to anybody on this site who thinks the county is up to no good. If you honestly think your county government officials are ripping our taxpayers off to the tune of $13 million over a 3-year period, then you should be really angry. Angry enough to find out the truth for yourself and not trust the analysis of a person who has made similar false (and sensational) claims in the past that have also proven to be 100% wrong.

    Jim, are you still "investigating" the $3 million hole in our revenue budget from ProShare a couple of years ago? How did we ever survive a $3 million hole in our budget? Or maybe there never was one.

    Anyway, I will be more than happy to talk on the phone or sit down over coffee with you or anybody else who wants to know how these DRA forms work and what RSA 24:21-a means and the limitations of the DRA web portal. You can call DRA directly and speak to the Municipal Bureau Supervisor, Bruce Kneuer. He'll talk to you about the MS-46 and MS-42.

    I will explain how we enter data into DRA's web portal, when our access gets locked out, and how we have to work with DRA to make any changes caused by supplemental appropriations. I'll also explain what RSA 24:21-a is all about and how we try and meet that requirement with the existing MS-46 form. I'll explain the timeline of Jim's first emails which led us to realize there were indeed some errors on the forms and how we worked with DRA to fix them.

    Please feel free to call me at 863-2560 or email me at manager@sullivancountynh.gov.

    Derek Ferland
    Sullivan County Manager

  • laura (Sunday, June 13 21 04:46 pm EDT)

    Changing documents and suddenly finding new documents to try to explain Jim’s first article away was a very pathetic move that certainly suggests that a cover-up is underway. Today’s bombshell may send shockwaves throughout the county government. It should, as many seem responsible for this heinous overreach by elected officials and the county manager to overtax the public. It is reprehensible and unforgivable.

  • Ben (Sunday, June 13 21 03:34 pm EDT)

    Today’s article makes me think of another old Kenny Rogers song that is very appropriate. Coward of the County. It seems here the Cowards of the County are the delegates, who are letting the County Commissioners and the County Manager gamble away the futures of all Sullivan County citizens with this tax-and-spend scheme that grossly over taxes the public. I think this is the result of a lot of collusion amongst many county government leaders. It looks like it is time for the voters to clean house and bring back some semblance of honesty and decency to our county government, which is definitely not there today.

  • Don (Sunday, June 13 21 01:08 pm EDT)

    This whole thing stinks to high heaven. It looks like there is a lot of rot in Sullivan County’s government that needs to be excised. The County Manager would be a good place to start.

  • Rick (Sunday, June 13 21 11:58 am EDT)

    Derek Ferland is actively using deflection techniques to avoid being blamed for this scandal. The DRA’s fillable forms and Jim Sullivan’s intellect are not the problem. Derek Ferland, his subordinates and his elected leader cohorts are the problem. The citizens of Sullivan County need to wake up and see what is going on and maybe because of Jim Sullivan’s efforts they may.

  • Gail (Sunday, June 13 21 11:01 am EDT)

    Mr. Sullivan's articles both this week and last week paints a very disturbing picture. It seems pretty clear to me that Mr. Ferland needs to go as he seems to be the mastermind behind this despicable scheme to squeeze more taxes out of all of us than what the county really needs to function. Maybe some if not most of the elected officials need to join him out the door. People have been financially struggling in this area for years but now especially with the Covid virus that practically shut the world down for over the past year. What do our elected representatives decide to do, these heartless people tax us even more so they can have a slush fund of money to play with. Our money. I am furious about this.

  • Tom (Sunday, June 13 21 10:42 am EDT)

    Well played Jim. You suckered though shady government officials real good. You even got some high-ranking county official to sneak into the county offices and secretly change a county document to try to cover their asses with both hands. I'm wondering if that's a crime. If not it should be. Now you drop the bomb today with the audit report stuff that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the county leaders have been overtaxing all of us for years and now even more so with Mr. Ferland at the helm. What a bunch of creeps and I am really disappointed with Joe Osgood for misleading all of us by writing on the forum here that you were completely way off base and just plain wrong, reckless and irresponsible because the overtaxing of all of us in Sullivan County never happened and guess what it really did happen and you damn well proved it. Either Joe knew and tried to hide it to protect himself and his colleagues in the county government or he did not know and he should have since is being well-paid to be a County Commissioner. Great job standing up for all of us citizens in Sullivan County. You are doing more for all of us than all of these elected bozos combined.

  • John J.O’Connor (Sunday, June 13 21 08:27 am EDT)

    Jim, Great in-depth article.
    Another base hit up the middle!

  • Jim Sullivan (Sunday, June 13 21 07:58 am EDT)

    New article published today.

    Sullivan County's secret policy of over-taxation – the rest of the story!

    Or as I like to call it, the dropping of the other shoe.

    This article is published on the News Flashes page of this website.

  • John J O’Connor (Thursday, June 10 21 01:50 pm EDT)

    Tony… great question… and the truthful answer is… I don’t know.
    I don’t know how many Jim’s articles influenced city hall decisions.
    I think it’s safe to say at times he posts thought provoking articles that make people ask questions, do these questions lead to career changes?
    Look at the past.
    Claremont has gone through a couple of DPW Directors during this sites time, a couple of City Managers. Did Jim’s extensive the investigations and articles lead to them leaving ?… you would have to ask them.
    Again 3/10 is in the Hall of Fame.

  • John J.O’Connor (Thursday, June 10 21 01:40 pm EDT)

    Kip… I don’t dislike you, I don’t know you. It would be ignorant of me to dislike someone without knowing them.
    Brian, typed words can be misleading but I can assure you I have never threatened anyone, used obscene language or did anything a reasonable person could ever perceive as being intimating or bullying, but I’m m not responsible for what you understand.
    The wager was about the level of tolerance Kips site has but I do appreciate his honesty.
    I’m certain I am on an island in regards to censorship, I don’t get offended so I’m amazed when others are.
    Again Kip, thank you.

  • tony (Thursday, June 10 21 01:03 pm EDT)

    John, you raised the batting average comparison. I have been in and out of this forum for years, Can you name how many of Jim's crazy stories has lead to a firing, reprimand or serious change in a city policy? He has misinterpreted accounting documents several times claiming fraud but it's never panned out. Still waiting on Jim to get it right. Name the times his accusations have been proven? We will wait.

  • tony (Thursday, June 10 21 10:14 am EDT)

    Wow, John, Wagering on yourself being an obnoxious crude bully and winning is something to be proud of. Not just any wind bag could pull that off.

  • Kipp (Thursday, June 10 21 09:49 am EDT)

    You're welcome, Jon! Honestly not sure how you wound up back in the group anyway..an oversight I am sure. Your previous behavior (after several requests to shut up) was a prime example of what I do not tolerate on the page, and I nipped you in the bud before it was surely going to go south. You don't like me, and the feeling is mutual...so how about we move on with our lives and not worry about one another. Enjoy your "winnings"...perhaps another gold chain in your future!

  • Brian (Thursday, June 10 21 08:18 am EDT)

    Everything that comes out of your mouth has some condescending tone, double meaning or is offensive. Your history of online bullying proceeds you tough guy so did you really win?

  • John J O’Connor (Wednesday, June 09 21 09:00 pm EDT)

    I’d like to give a huge thank you to Kip Ryan.
    I made a bet with someone who said you were extremely open minded and would never block someone from your “What’s up Claremont “ site, unless they were threatening, obscene or being a bully.
    So I set out to win my bet by posting something on his site that was not obscene, threatening or could possibly be perceived as bullying.
    I submitted a post about how censorship is cowardly and true to form, I was blocked.
    So Kip, thank you for blocking me… it was a sizable wager.

  • Chicken little (Wednesday, June 09 21 02:20 pm EDT)

    William, I completely agree, wait and see .
    This isn’t the first time Mr.Sullivan has proclaimed that the sky was falling and last time I looked, the sky was still in the same place.

  • William (Wednesday, June 09 21 07:15 am EDT)

    I think some of you are jumping to conclusions too early about nothing being wrong with the County's financial reporting discrepancies. I think Mr. Sullivan showed more than enough documented information to prove that further investigation is necessary. Apparently he is doing precisely that and Mr. Ferland is being an obstructionist by dragging out the process. Mr. Osgood seems to be trying to cover his own backside because although he is a new County Commissioner he still must have been involved in some way with this year's documents that Mr. Sullivan found discrepancies on that apparently started his investigation. Mr. Osgood seems to disagree with Mr. Sullivan's approach of trusting documents over the words of public officials who may have something to hide. Mr. Sullivan's professional approach is exactly what makes this website such a useful free public service to everyone who wishes to avail themselves of it. I think we should all step back and take a breath and adopt a wait-and-see approach until Mr. Sullivan finishes his investigation. He already stated on this public forum that he would admit he was wrong if and when he obtains proof that it actually happened. He wrote that he has not received any documentation yet that shows that any errors were made. If County administrators made errors on the documents or did not place on the County website revised documents then how is that Mr. Sullivan's fault? It also seems very suspicious to me that when questions are asked new evidence is suddenly found that may exonerate County administrators and elected officials. It seems a little too convenient to me but I will still reserve judgment until Mr. Sullivan's investigation is over any reports what he found on the Sullivan Report.

  • John J.O’Connor (Tuesday, June 08 21 09:06 pm EDT)

    Joe,
    Thank you for looking into this, being a former State Representative, I am aware that the county budget goes through multiple levels of scrutiny. If what Jimmy is alleging is true, it would have been detected immediately.
    Don’t judge Jimmy by this. A pro baseball player would be considered a superstar if he gets a hit 3 times in every 10 at bats.
    Jimmy does better than that on this site.

  • Paul (Tuesday, June 08 21 07:10 pm EDT)

    Oh here come the libtard comments. Oh the mean keyboard warrior hurt my feelings and can't debate with fact so uses ridiculous lables to show dominance. Get real.

    To Joe Osgood. Really bro? Now you have to question what Jim writes but never did before? Well, thats just foolery and makes me question your judgement.

  • Jim Sullivan (Tuesday, June 08 21 01:39 pm EDT)

    Joe Osgood got some things wrong in his last posting. I have no grudge with County Officials. I reported exactly what County Officials stated on those DRA documents. So far I have not received any information that proves anythng I stated in my article is wrong. If that happens then I will happily admit that I was wrong as I have done a few times in the past. I have no desire for a sit down meeting because I want documented information as that sets a higher standard. I am drilling down for more information, just not in the way that Mr. Osgood wants me to with a sit down meeting. I requested a copy of the new documents with the revised FY 2020 budget numbers that the County Manager alluded to in his recent email addressed to me. I just received a link from Mr. Ferland to fill out a right to know request, which will take more time for me to receive the information, I will do so but if the County Manager wants to drag this out then it is on him. I'm patient, I can wait.

  • Liberals never stop joey (Tuesday, June 08 21 01:30 pm EDT)

    Joey is a libtard you can tell " get back home to serve the people " just another idiot in there mommy's basement deservent loser

  • Joe Osgood (Tuesday, June 08 21 11:08 am EDT)

    Joey from Joe 
     Let’s start with this:  Does anybody really think the county could overtax the county by $13 million and not have it noticed?  That is ridiculous.  The county is audited every single year.  It would have been flagged.  But it wasn’t flagged because it didn’t happen.  If Jim spent any time thinking about this he would have realized how ridiculous that was.  Shame on him for rushing to publish this article just because he has a grudge against county officials for what reason I don’t know.    

    In the past I have generally had great confidence in Jim’s reporting because he has always put up thorough documentation and usually he admits when he has made a mistake. That said I have never been in the know of what he has been reporting. Jim has been right on in many instances and proven wrong In some. He prides himself in being an investigative reporter.

    Till yesterday I took him at his word. But when I found out he missed the boat when investigating this county subject and I advise him to drill down further to connect his financial claim he refused.  A simple inquiry to the manager would have saved much drama. This is an attempt to give the County Manager, County Commissioners and the County Delegation a black eye. And Joey by the way this is not a time frame involving my position. Jim has always mentioned his admiration of Perry Mason being his idol because he gathers all of the facts. Well his numbers did not add up and when offered the facts he wanted to be spoon fed them. Investigators investigate. They don’t sit back and expect information to be dropped in their lap. The County Manager has offered clarity that seem to have fallen on deaf ears.
     
    I have gotten more than enough information while on a weeks vacation to be satisfied that the county has not in any way been ripped off. I also attended a two hour biweekly meeting  zoom yesterday that will be available on line. To be honest with you I’m am a bit saddened that I will now have to question what Jim posts from now on. Mistakes are made. Own them when you make them. The bottom line, the money is where it is supposed to be. 

    I would encourage anybody on this forum to call 477-9744 or email joejfcc@gmail.com me directly to find out more.  Or contact the county manager directly and get information for yourself and make up your own mind about what is going on.   Thank you John for your vote of confidence I really appreciate that.  I pride myself in being honest and a straight shooter for the people of this county.

  • John J.O’Connor (Tuesday, June 08 21 08:47 am EDT)

    I have complete faith in Joe Osgood. Joe is honest, truthful, old school gentleman, who’s word is his bond.
    If he says he will do an in-depth look into, you can take that to the bank because it will be accomplished.
    Thank you Joe and enjoy your much deserved vacation.

  • Joey (Tuesday, June 08 21 08:28 am EDT)

    The irony of Joe Osgood having issue with a website he praises only when it goes after something he is looped in on. Have seen several issues Joe raises online and in the public that are not factual and are easily researched. Where are you Joe? Spending more time out of the area? As a County Commissioner I hope you hurry back to serve the people.

  • Jim Sullivan (Tuesday, June 08 21 07:32 am EDT)

    Joe, I did read the County Manager’s disturbing email where he states that County Officials made many errors when filling out the forms submitted to the NH DRA, (presumably for multiple years since Mr. Ferland assumed the position of County Manager). The County Manager tried to downplay all of these supposed errors by calling them oversights. He also stated that in regards to FY 2020, (apparently because I showed the vast differences between the Delegation approved and Final budget numbers within my article), there is a another document with an entirely different set of budget numbers that was submitted to the NH DRA but never published on the Sullivan County website. The County Manager attributes that as another “oversight”. I have submitted a request for a copy of this newly surfaced document. I intend to publish the County Manager’s email once I receive this previously unknown document and have had a chance to analyze it. This still does not explain the large differences regarding FY 2018 & 2019. Perhaps new documents will now surface with completely revised budget numbers for those years as well.

  • Joe Osgood (Monday, June 07 21 09:48 pm EDT)

    Jim I just read the email the manager sent you and cc me. It appears that there is a few pieces of documents you are missing and some normal and regular events that took place that line up the dots. As I said before I am out of town but I will finish up my follow up when I get back into town.

  • Dennis (Monday, June 07 21 01:23 pm EDT)

    This is very simple. Our elected leaders of Sullivan County colluded with paid administrators to greatly exaggerate expenses by $27,679,394 in only three years to create a large surplus to maintain their tax-and-spend policies and keep some money in the cash reserve for future spending. These deceptive practices prove that none of them is worthy to be in the positions they currently hold. Their actions have violated the trust of citizens in Sullivan County.

  • Jim Sullivan (Monday, June 07 21 12:15 pm EDT)

    Joe, with all due respect, reading your statement you seem to have prejudged this issue by arriving at the conclusion that the County is right and I am wrong before you have fully looked into the matter. I know that you are a new County Commissioner and I hope that you will look at this with an open, unbiased mind. I do not see in Mr. Ferland’s reply, (which I published as a matter of full transparency), an offer to sit down to any meeting and I would not be interested in that anyway. I am requesting a reply in writing so that I can publish it on my website again as a matter of full transparency so everyone will see the County’s response to these concerns. If the numbers stated on the MS 46 documents are correct as you say, then everything that I wrote about in my article is correct and County Officials generated $13,055,454 in budget surpluses (over-taxation) in regards to Fiscal Years 2018, 2019 & 2020 and budget padding for those three fiscal years total $27,679,394. That is not idle speculation those are hard cold facts, as that is precisely what is stated on those MS-46 documents that County Officials submitted to the NH DRA. I simply created tables that compared two sets of budget numbers for each of those years (originally approved versus closed out final numbers) and did the math to calculate the differences. The results were so stunning that I decided to publish what I found so far to let the unsuspecting citizens of Sullivan County know what I had found. However, I also made it clear that a further inquiry had been made and that I was sending a copy of my article to the entire Sullivan County Delegation and to the County Commissioners, once again for complete public transparency. Apparently, you think I jumped the gun and you are certainly entitled to your opinion, which is one that I respectfully disagree with. If County Officials have a good explanation for this then I look forward to seeing it in writing. Anything you can do to facilitate that would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

  • Joe Osgood (Monday, June 07 21 11:12 am EDT)

    Jim, I read with great interest your post about the Sullivan County. I have done some research on the MS 45, 46, and 45 forms. As the investigative reporter that you claim to be. In your report you post a copy of an email from the county manager. He clearly offers to sit down and explain where you may have gone wrong. Any investigative person would have taken him up on that. If you report on something and don’t go after all of the facts that are offered to you how can you give a complete analysis of what happened. Currently you are only throwing out opinions without facts. I am going to look into this further but I am out of town and it might take a couple days. Obviously you are reporting on some thing that is before my time as Commissioner. I do have some knowledge of it as a state rep. I would suggest that you do take up the offer that the county manager gave you. I would be glad to sit in on that meeting. Thanks Joe Osgood.
    PS. Jim I assure you I am looking into this and I truly believe that in the end the finance end of this will be accurate on the county’s end. I am finding a cumbersome paper trail between the county and the DRA has created your concern and I see changes coming.

  • Gail (Monday, June 07 21 09:18 am EDT)

    I am not sure the County Commissioners know what the heck they are doing. I do not understand how they could miss a $2 million difference between what was reported one year and the next on these documents going to the DRA. These are supposed to be finished numbers that should not be changed by yet they were. I would like to know who changed them. The County Manager? The County Commissioners? Or some other people?

  • Sarah (Monday, June 07 21 08:19 am EDT)

    It looks as if the county commissioners are filling out documents with false information and sending that information to the NH Department of Revenue Administration. Would the state attorney general consider that a crime?

  • Joel (Sunday, June 06 21 10:19 pm EDT)

    Our county representatives are not doing their jobs representing us. They need to stop listening to the manager and start thinking for themselves and start doing what is right for the citizens. If the budget is overestimated by a third then cut the budget a third and tell the county department directors to live within their means like all of us do.

  • Erik (Sunday, June 06 21 04:06 pm EDT)

    What are our elected leaders doing at the county level? Don't they realize how hard a time everyone is having getting by without them surreptitiously taxing us more than what they need to operate the county government just so they can stockpile a war chest of money for future spending schemes. I am thoroughly disgusted with all of them.

  • William (Sunday, June 06 21 02:03 pm EDT)

    My mind is still reeling from the shocking Sullivan Report exposure of the sleazy business practices of government officials of Sullivan County. I have read the article twice and I think it all boils down to a few key points. For at least three years FY 2018, FY 2019 and FY 2020 the brazen expenditure budgets were inflated to the highest degree with a grand total of over-estimation coming close to $28 million, with $10.7 million of that budget inflation occurring in FY 2020 alone. Over-taxation surpassing $13 million during those three fiscal years. All occurrences transpired since Mr. Ferland became the Sullivan County Manager. It is unthinkable that the County Manager and his subordinates who manage each government department with budgets that executed those over-estimations during budget preparation to facilitate those enormous budgetary surpluses all had no idea what they were doing subsequent years in a row. I agree with Mr. Sullivan that it is likely that the FY 2021 budget and the budget for FY 2022 have similar sizable over-estimations for the express purpose of budgetary surplus creation. County Commissioners and members of the Delegation also bear considerable responsibility, as it is their job to scrutinize each budget before its passage and in hindsight to assess how the fiscal year went after the budgets are closed out at the fiscal years’ end. Our elected officials have quite miserably failed every Sullivan County resident. As a taxpayer, I am outraged.

  • Jim Sullivan (Sunday, June 06 21 11:36 am EDT)

    New article.

    Did Sullivan County Officials exceedingly over-tax Sullivan County Taxpayers by $13,054,454 in only three years time and is this over-taxation still continuing?

    Article appears on the News Flashes page of this website.

  • adam (Thursday, June 03 21 09:34 am EDT)

    Merit Plan Vote was 100% for union. Better put a few more dollars in the budget.

  • Bob (Wednesday, June 02 21 11:05 am EDT)

    Mostly uncensored get poked, or what ?
    Was surprised to see a Claremont controversial topic post, posted yesterday.

  • Wayne McElreavy (Wednesday, June 02 21 10:08 am EDT)

    Cerberus. Interesting. The same company that purchased the HB Group, which included the former Holson Company on Twistback Road, and promptly shut it down.

  • The Shadow (Wednesday, June 02 21 09:24 am EDT)

    The story of Cerberus-

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAAnJCI76ak

  • Paul (Wednesday, June 02 21 08:40 am EDT)

    Donk mow your lawn, fix that trash heap yard and stop worrying about things you can't comprehend. Maybe some reading comprehension classes. Just because you are a Johnson doesn't mean you need to stockpile dilapidated property by the way.

  • Jim Sullivan (Wednesday, June 02 21 06:49 am EDT)

    New Article.

    Majority stake of Red River Technology sold to Cerebus Capital Management LP.

    Press Release published on the News Flashes page of this website.

  • Donk (Tuesday, June 01 21 12:35 pm EDT)

    I wonder how long it will take Koloski to apply for and receive these micro loans being awarded to small business.He seems to always be there with his hand out.
    After the rain the curve on Sugar River Dr. is getting bad again.I'd say it's a Band-Aid on a Bullet wound.

  • Jim Sullivan (Monday, May 31 21 03:50 pm EDT)

    Two new articles published today.

    1) May 26 Council meeting synopsis.

    2) What is the Morris Administration trying to hide?

    Both articles are published on the News Flashes page of this website.

  • Dave (Wednesday, May 26 21 08:08 am EDT)

    I like the idea of privatizing city services to give the taxpayers a break on their property tax burden. Why is it that Sullivan is the only one looking out for us when he is not even on the city council anymore?

  • Todd (Wednesday, May 26 21 06:55 am EDT)

    Does it surprise you that Morris found a way to pervert the board of assessors, as if he has perverted everything else in the city government. The worst thing about this is the city councilors are allowing him to do it.

  • Gail (Wednesday, May 26 21 05:32 am EDT)

    It looks like the board of assessors are nothing more than flunkies for the administration when they are supposed to be representing the general public.

  • Matt (Tuesday, May 25 21 08:12 am EDT)

    I do not think that $970,000 surplus that Mary Walter was talking about really exists at all. The councilors must be really stupid, naive, or both.

  • Squeaky Wheel (Tuesday, May 25 21 07:20 am EDT)

    At Dennis! Donk got his potholes filled. Someone in his house must work for the city. 😁

  • Travis (Tuesday, May 25 21 05:26 am EDT)

    What is the fascination Morris has with red trucks? I know he used to be a firefighter but seriously is time for him to grow up. All he seems to want to do is buy more red vehicles, give big raises to all the city employees, and stick it to the taxpayers as much as he can. The councilors seem okay with that at least most of them.

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