Budget Season 'opens' in Lisbon

Budget season is upon us once again.

This year the council is replacing the elected Budget Advisory Board with a Council appointed  Finance Committee. 

The first problem this Committee should address, before looking at any budget numbers, is updating our accounting system. We need to place all  expenses in the correct department accounts. This change will make it much easier for the average person to compare our town departments with those of other towns with similar populations. We need to be able to compare apples with apples.


Our present accounting system makes it easy for town departments to hide their expenses in other department accounts . 

•     Police liability insurance belongs in the Police budget not in a general insurance department.

•     The cost of employee health benefits should be reflected in the department that the employee belongs  not some other department.

•     Employee FICA match payments, the town makes to the government, is an expense of that employees department. 

•     Heating and upkeep of Police, Fire and Public Works buildings are an expense of their respective departments and should be reflected as such by our accounting system.

   
This type of expense shuffling benefits departments with many employees at the expense of those with fewer employees. It skews the relative expense of all Town departments.

Its difficult to make informed budget decisions when we don’t have a clear picture of how much we are already spending.

Don’t listen to Councilor excuses about why this cant be done. It can be done relatively easily. Any qualified accountant worth their salt can fix this problem easily. The only reason they don’t is because it serves the interests of all departments. And ultimately it makes it easier to justify additional taxes and spending.

I am not trying to imply that this creative accounting is illegal, its not. I am saying that this form of accounting makes it difficult for the average taxpayer  to understand where his or her money is being spent.

Lets get this new committee off on the right foot by fixing this obvious flaw in our accounting system.  Lets give them a clear picture of our finances.

Respectfully
Joe Hill  LisbonMaine.Net