Details of Federal and 3rd party AUDITS in the packet for the May 5th City Council meeting, CLICK HERE. They did it again! – 4 years running! In a communication to the Gardner City Council for the May 5th meeting, Mayor Michael Nicholson thanked his financial team of Auditor JohnContinue Reading

Bill McKinney on Running Winchendon Lean – Prop 2/12 Not Keeping Up with Inflation Winchendon’s Town Manager has taken a sharp pencil to Winchendon’s budget and informed the community last year that the upcoming budget would need an override. Coming up in Winchendon this year is a vote at theContinue Reading

Gardner Mayor Nicholson using new role to Advocate for Greater Gardner area residents Gardner residents have expressed frustration with high electricity and gas bills and Mayor Michael Nicholson is taking the fight to Boston. As President of the Massachusetts Mayors Association, Nicholson signed a letter on February 28, 2025 whichContinue Reading

Gardner Finance Committee Discusses Various Matters for the New Year Listen to the meeting on any device, CLICK PLAY. Complete Agenda, CLICK HERE. The Finance Committee spoke about an Ordinance proposed by Councilor George Tyros which would require the Community Development Block Grant Steering Committee to meet monthly. Other itemsContinue Reading

Two Days to Beat the Tax Man in Greater Gardner MA On Saturday August 10th and Sunday August 11th, most items under $2500 purchased for personal use in Massachusetts will be exempt from the 6.25% sales tax. Great time to buy that TV you don’t need or that new washerContinue Reading

Many Electric Customers in Ashburnham to see Lower Rates Effective September 1, 2024, the Ashburnham Municipal Light Plant is separating the Customer Charge, Distribution Charge, and Purchased Power Charge. The result creates a small decrease in the monthly bill for many customers. For example the total bill for a residentialContinue Reading

Capital Improvement Committee Discusses How to Spend $8 million Faced with the good news that Gardner Elementary School is about $8 million under budget, the Capital Improvement Committee discussed how to spend the money. Listen to the meeting on any device, CLICK PLAY. Committee was generally in agreement that $4Continue Reading

CDBG Grants Announced in Front of School Street School School Street School has been vacant for almost 40 years, has fallen in to disrepair, often has vandals and police calls. Gardner applied for a Community Development Block Grant to demolish the building and received it along with others to benefitContinue Reading

Gardner MA City Council Scrutinizes Budget Line by Line in Informal Meeting Council President Kazinskas presided over an informal City Council meeting on June 3, 2024 for the purpose of going over the proposed Fiscal Year 2025 budget. Listen on any device, CLICK PLAY. The City Council took a methodicalContinue Reading

Website has current statistics which are updated continuously, CLICK HERE. Unique website keeps track of U.S. National Debt in Real Time We took a snapshot at about 8pm on March 3, 2024. The United States National Debt is approaching $34.5 trillion, over $100k per citizen, over $250k per taxpayer. ToContinue Reading

Budget Dog for Greater Gardner MA – Saving Money in 2024 Budgets are tight in every household, or, if not now, at some time your budget might be tight. The advice of Budget Dog will help you save money so you have a greater cushion in an emergency. Here areContinue Reading

State of MA Holding more than $3 Billion in Unclaimed Property It could be a cable deposit or an insurance refund, but it’s yours so why not claim it. Fill out the appropriate form on the State’s website and the Treasurer’s office will send you a check. Don’t think youContinue Reading

Greater Gardner MA Shoppers Benefit from Discounted Turkeys Nationally, the price of a 15 pound turkey this year is about $35.40, or an average of $2.36 per pound. In the State of Hawaii, it runs about $52.85. In the Greater Gardner area, grocery stores are continuing their habit of substantiallyContinue Reading

Single Decision of Gardner MA Mayor Nicholson has potential to save households Millions The electric contract Mayor Nicholson signed on May 1, 2023 (known as Municipal Electric Aggregation) at a rate of just over 14 cents per kilowatt hour goes into effect on November 1, 2023 and goes through OctoberContinue Reading