To Purchase or Not To Purchase, How Best To 'Hoodwink' the Taxpayers!

WHY SHOULD THE TAXPAYERS HAVE TO PAY FOR  TOWN INCOMPETENCY????

 

 Lisbon Town Manager Stephen G. Eldridge

Several years ago, I started a crusade to find out why our taxes continue to go up.  I did this because the Town Manager, Stephen Eldridge, looked me right in the eye and lied to me.  From that day forward, I have been in search of the truth.  So far I have had to take the town to court twice and both times the judge ruled in my favor both times.  I also have submitted over 100 Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) requests seeking information at my own personal expense.  I did all this in search of the truth.

 

 Lisbon Police Chief David T. Brooks and Fire Chief Sean Galipeau

The latest go around has been over the Police Department’s vehicles.  During several meetings, the subject of the vehicles being both to purchase and lease to purchase came up.  Upon further investigation, I discovered Chief Brooks goes to the Town Council and requests sufficient funds to replace vehicles by purchasing them.  This is what he did this year and the Town Council approved the purchase of two vehicles at $48,816 on July 16, 2013.   

Chief Brooks then took these funds and made an agreement to lease to purchase these two vehicles.  The Town Manager, Stephen Eldridge, then approved the first year’s lease payment of $15,331.21.  By leasing these vehicles, the taxpayers will have to make lease payments for three years on one vehicle and six years on the other totaling $63,849.70.  This means the taxpayers will end up paying an additional $15,033.79.  

Please review the document below from the Finance Director.  Anybody wonder why our taxes continually go up?  What a scam!!!!!!

The Town Council believes these vehicles were purchased when in fact they are leased.  The Town Council and the Finance Committee have approved the municipal budget with line of accounting items in the Police Department Budget for 5430 Motor Vehicles and 5500 Lease Agreements for years after approving the Purchase of vehicles.  If the Town Council appropriated these funds for the Purchase of these vehicles; how can you have lease agreements on these vehicles?  Also, where did the remaining funds appropriated for these vehicles go if only $15,331.21 of the $48,816 was approved for this purchase?

Now for my bill below!  I requested additional documents under the FOAA program about additional vehicles currently in the Police Department fleet.  Please pay close attention to my bill for these documents.  Apparently, it took three hours to locate and compile these documents.  Can you image having to spend three hours looking for active files?  

This is the type of harassment I am faced with in search of the truth.  Also, some of the documents requested were not received but yet I still have to pay for missing documents.  Some of these FOAA’s were a second or third request for the same documents.  It is truly amazing as to how far Chief Brooks and Eldridge will go to cover-up the excess spending which causes our taxes to go up annually.

Does anyone still wonder why our taxes continue to go up?

Larry Fillmore