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Friday, July 26, 2013

A Perspective That Cannot Be Ignored; LisbonMaine.Net: Councilors -- Can You Feel Lisbon's Pain‏

When we started LisbonMaine.Net we naively thought Lisbon Councilors as a whole cared about our little town and its people. We also thought the reason Councilors failed to act in the towns best interest was because they were unaware of the towns needs.  We thought our little blog could  highlight some of the major problems in town government and possibly offer a few humble solutions. 

This blog had its second birthday a few days ago and we hear the same remarks today that we heard back in the summer of 2011. The following is just one example of the many, mostly anonymous,  letters and comments we have received in those 2 years.  I picked these remarks because I think they best express the frustration I hear every day in Lisbon.  

 I can barely pay my property taxes, yet taxes keep climbing each year irregardless of whether I can afford them or not. At what point do we finally say that we can no longer afford these services and go from a local police force to a county sheriffs dept. This would save the town thousands of dollars including overhead costs. Furthermore, the Transfer & Recycling Center does not need to be open 40 hours a week. Maybe we should close the Public library or Beaver Park for a season so that the tax payer can have a break. I would also like to know who is paying for “Family Movie Nights in the Park” and “Concerts in the Park”. All of these programs are certainly wonderful but only if the town can afford them. Our schools have taken a beating as classes offered at the high school are down to the bare bones yet we are doing all kinds of renovations to the High School and fields. My child was unable to get any of the classes that he wanted with the exception of his English class .    Anonymous Sender

Councilors 

  • Can you hear the people in this town begging for relief from Lisbon’s high taxes.
  • Can you feel the anger every time you take a neighbors home for back taxes  then buy that home for yourself  for penny’s on the dollar.
  • Can you hear parents frustration with the School System.  If you feel you must levy these exorbitant taxes then at least spend them where it will do the most good.  We have an obligation to our children.


If you continue on the path you are now on there won't be a Lisbon in 10 years.  The only people that will be able to afford to live here will be the overpriced town employees. I am talking about  those paper pushers trying to justify taking 60,70 and 80 thousand a year from Towns people making 25 and 35 thousand.

I have lived in a dozen towns in Maine over the last 60plus years and through all those years I have never seen such a disconnect between the taxes levied by a town and the peoples ability to pay those taxes.

Twenty years from now your Lisbon neighbors won't remember you for that new state of the art "Police Comm Center"-- you built --- they will remember you and thank you for helping  them save their homes.

We are all in this together.  Lets help all of our neighbors through the coming tough financial times.  

Respectfully
LisbonMaine.Net
Joe Hill 

1 comment:

Dot Fitzgerald said...

Lisbon Town Councilors feel our, Lisbon taxpayers, pain? It is not their pain. Three of our town councilors do not own property in Lisbon, therefore do not pay real estate taxes; Councilors Lisa Ward, Mark Lunt, and Dillon Pesce. One member of the newly formed Finance Committee, Miriam Morgan-Alexander, does not own property in town and does not pay real estate taxes. Remember, the finance committee is hand-picked by the town manager and town council. Do you really think they feel the taxpayers pain. It will be very obvious when you receive your 2013/14 real estate tax bill in the mail in August.