Winchester’s bills need to be paid

If Winchester residents are worried about where the money is going to come from to pay some of the town and school system’s overdue bills, they may just be looking at the tip of the iceberg, as it seems there is money missing everywhere.At Tuesday night’s Board of Education meeting, it was noted that there are at least $800,000 in past due bills owed to dozens of different accounts, because the town has not paid them. When these bills will actually be paid is anyone’s guess, but it is clear that short-term debt has accumulated beyond a reasonable amount.School officials have also noted that the town has missed payments into a town-administered retirement account for teachers.On the water and sewer side of town finances, it has been determined the departments are at least $1.8 million in the red, with a cash shortage that has accumulated for a number of years. This is surely going to result in sharp rate increases for water users who should have been notified years ago that this problem was occurring.On the municipal side, there are hints that tens, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of dollars are missing due to mismanagement in the finance department. An audit of the town’s 2009-10 budget still has not been completed by the town’s old accounting firm, BlumShapiro, and a state police investigation into the matter continues.Add all of these problems up, and you’re looking at potentially millions of dollars that are either missing or have not been correctly appropriated. While it is possible the town is holding back payment on some bills to stay in the black for the current year, the bills will eventually have to be paid. Not paying off these accounts only adds to the sense of fiscal instability.In the end, the bills will have to be paid, and people will need to be held accountable for the decisions they’ve made. Many residents could end up with a sense of sticker shock when the numbers are finally tallied, but as the saying goes, taxes are one of the two sure things in life, the other being death.An important question when all is said and done will be: How can we prevent this kind of situation from happening again?