Double Talking Lisbon Officials or Is It Just Plain Lieing?

DOUBLE TALK OR JUST PLAIN A LIE?

At Tuesday night’s Town Council meeting, Mrs. Jessica Maloy, the Finance Director, made a feeble attempt to justify the method the town uses to acquire Police Vehicles.  Mrs. Maloy tried to explain that I put out erroneous information, and if I did, I received this information from the town.   Mrs. Maloy tried to explain how the town utilizes a Lease to Purchase to acquire these vehicles.

 Lisbon Finance Director Jessica Maloy

However, she left off the part about how the Lease to Purchase option costs the taxpayers more tax dollars in the long run. 

Leasing allows the payments to be strung over years and eliminates having to pay for the vehicle all at once.  This is just what this town needs is to spend more tax dollars than necessary.  If we do not have sufficient funds to purchase the vehicle outright when, why do it?

Mrs. Maloy tried to justify budgeting both the cost of the vehicle and all the lease payments in the same budget.  Now according to a councilor I talk to explained it to me as the council approves the total cost of the vehicle for purchase and then Lease to Purchase in order to pay for the additional lease payments for the other vehicles already on lease.  This process makes absolutely no sense to me because they have several line items in the budget doing the very same thing.   

HOW MANY TIMES ARE THE TAXPAYERS GOING TO PAY FOR THESE VEHICLES? 

 Lisbon Police Chief David T. Brooks

At budget time, I  asked how many vehicles are leased and how many have been purchased outright.  Chief Brooks, Mr. Eldridge and Mrs. Maloy have provided partial information and adverted coming right out and explaining the process.  All the vehicles were acquired under the Lease to Purchase program.

Now I am going to provide you documents, I received from Mrs. Maloy through the Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) program.  If I do not have the right information, it is because I receive conflicting information from the town.  Below you will find an Invoice (Bill of Sale) for a 2013 Police Interceptor for $23,504.00 and a Purchase Order number 1992 paying this Invoice and then you will see the Schedule A for the Lease to Purchase on the same vehicle.  Check out the VIN number on the Invoice and the Lease to Purchase Schedule A.  Isn’t that funny, the VIN number is the same.  I know that there is no VIN number on the Purchase Order but the Police Department only has one 2013 Vehicle in the fleet and the amount is consistent with the Invoice.

(click on each document to enlarge or print)

Mrs. Maloy, please explain to the taxpayers how many times they have to pay for the same Police vehicle in this town?   

Larry Fillmore

Joe's interpretation of Police vehicle purchase.

  If I read the following post correctly on 9/10/12 Lisbon’s Purchase.Order said we paid  $ 23,504 cash, check nr.114609, for a Ford int.

Then on 10/17/12 we borrowed 23,504 dollars from Androscoggin Bank against this vehicle that we paid cash for on 9/10/12.  We then paid  Androscoggin Bank back $6.077.04 of the 23,504 for the first years loan payment.

This means we are paying over 800 dollars interest on a vehicle we already owned.  And Lisbon Residents going to Council Meetings think we already spent the  $23,504 for a new PD vehicle when in reality we actually only paid  $6,077.04 for the first years payment. Then the next three years the Council asks the public for another $6,077.04 more in the budget each year for yearly payments. Where did the $17,427 (23,504 minus first years 6,077.04) go?

This may or may not be ethical but at the very least it tricks Lisbon Residents into budgeting more for the Pd than is spent on this vehicle.


Purchase Order and Androscoggin documents are located on the following post by Larry Fillmore.

LisbonMaine.Net
  Joe Hill