Piecing The Town Budget Together

SEE IF YOU CAN FIGURE IT OUT!

It is now budget season for the town of Lisbon and they are off to a great start.  It appears the confusion is going to be the same this year.  I am going to present three documents that reflect last years proposed budget, approved budget and this year’s proposed budget.  Let’s see if you can figure it out before it changes again.  I can understand the frustration of the councilors when they are provided so many different formats dealing with the budget.  This is the method the town Manager and Finance Director utilize to keep everyone from finding all the hidden funds in the budget.

Let’s start off with the proposed budget for last year.  Below is the format provided as a working document.  This format was easy to read and showed the previous year’s budget and actual expenditure line item by line item.  This is extremely helpful in seeing how your tax dollars are being spent.

Next, look at the actual budget approved by the town council for the 2012-2013 municipal budget.   If you notice, the line items do not match up with the working document above.  There is no way to cross-reference line items.  Also, on the approved budget below there are line items 5100, 5200 and 5300 which never appear in the working document.  There is no way to cross-reference to tell what tax dollars were to be applied against which line item number.  By looking at the approved budget below, you cannot see where your tax dollars are actually being spent.

So on Tuesday’s night town council meeting, the Town Manager and Finance Director presented this year’s proposed budget (see below).  Once again it is in a different format.  The line items do not line up with the approved budget for last year and several line items from last year are left off this years proposed budget like the TIF Payment.  It is a fact the town is under contract to make these payments but where is it in the proposed budget? 

One would think the format of last year’s proposed working document would be the best approach for everyone to work off of since it provides so much information.  The entire budget by line item numbers and what was budgeted and spent the previous years.  This should be the document to work off of and should contain the same line items approved by the council.  Changing the format, not displaying the same line item numbers only adds to the confusion of developing a valid budget.  The people, councilors and the Finance Committee need to be provided the proposed working document for this year that was used last year.   Everyone must have the same documents in order to follow along with all the discussion pertaining to the budget. 

This is why the town has so many transfers and carry forwards every year.  The Town Manager and Finance Director pad the town budget in order to have a slush fund in which to operate during the year.   The funds allocated to a line item should be ONLY what are necessary.  The town has an Undesignated Fund to cover emergencies during the year.  Before the current Town Manager arrived this fund had over three million dollars in it and now it has just over one million.  This is because no one can decipher the budget.

The people have a right to know how their tax dollars are being spent and for what.

Larry Fillmore

We the People