More Insight Into Lisbon's Revaluation Scam

REVALUATION PROCESS

At Tuesday night's Town Council meeting, Mrs. Dot Fitzgerald asked the council why the town’s Request for Proposals (RFP) had included the statements “Proposal should include a 4-5 year time frame for completion of the project” and “The acceptance of any proposal will be contingent upon approval by Council to continue funding on a year to year budget approval.”  Mrs. Fitzgerald also asked why the council did not seek alternate financing options and she cited a couple of other options different towns had utilized.

Councilor LaRochelle decided to address this issue.  He went on to explain the reason for the 4-5 year time frame was because the town could not afford any other options because the town’s people had voted on several occasions not to spend the money for a revaluation.  Councilor LaRochelle also stated, the council felt revaluation had to be completed now before the state orders it.  In essence, the council decided to ignore the wishes of the people and do whatever they wanted to do.  It is amazing what information come out of the puppets when the puppet master is not there to stop them; (Bowie) was absent.

Mr. Van Tuinen, who won the bid, had provided the town council with a briefing outlining his option on performing a revaluation of the town.  If you were to compare the briefing and the RFP you would find they are identical.  Strange how that worked out, isn’t it.  Instead of opening the RFP for other companies to provide briefings and other options, the town manager tailored the RFP to fit Mr. Van Tuinen’s briefing.  This eliminates competition or any other options from being explored.  I believe the RFP should have been written to enable other companies to present different options and possibly provide insight on other financing options utilized by other towns.  This would have provided the town more options in which to reach a sound decision.

To conduct a revaluation over a 4-5 year period is totally asinine in this current economic situation.  In the RFP, it states “There are approximately 4,400 parcels of mixed residential and commercial.”  Using the figure of 200 days a year, times 4 years equal 800 workdays.  With 4400 parcels to inspect divided by 800 days means it would conduct 5.5 parcels a day. This appears to be a small number of parcels to be inspected during an 8 hours period.  I wonder if Mr. Van Tuinen is going to perform this revaluation on a full or part time basis. The economy is going to change in 4 or 5 years so what equation will be utilized throughout the revaluation.  If it is going to change during the 4-5 year period, everyone will not get the same consideration when determining their property value.  Let's stop and think about how many empty buildings are in Lisbon, the property sold by the town for $1.00 when the fair market value was $656,050, or the property taken by the town of Lisbon for failure to pay taxes.  These are critical factors necessary to compute the fair market value of property.  This should lower everyone’s property value considerable.

Let’s face it, the town council and the town manager negotiated an extremely bad deal for the Town of Lisbon.  I asked the question:  “Has the contract been signed” and the town manager stated no.  I then requested the council ensure the contract reads funding is on a year to year basis instead of obligating funds for a 4-5 year commitment. What happens if there is no funding for the second, third or four years?  Several taxpayers are going to be paying a different property tax than the rest of the residents.  Is this fair? 

This council allowed the town manager to manipulate them into accepting a bid for the revaluation which is not in the best interest of the town.  This RFP, in my mind, was tailored from the presentation provided by Mr. Van Tuinen and does not meet the requirements of the Equal Employment Act and opens the town up for potential law suits.

THE PEOPLE OF LISBON NEED TO REEL IN THIS COUNCIL AND TAKE BACK THIS TOWN BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.  SPEAK OUT, TELL YOUR COUNCILOR’S THIS IS NOT RIGHT AND THEY NEED TO QUIT IGNORING THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE AND PUT THE BEST INTEREST OF THE TOWN FIRST.  THIS TOWN NEEDS TO PUT A STOP TO ELDRIDGE’S CRONYISM.

Larry A. Fillmore
Concerned Citizen