Saving Taxpayer Monies Thru Fiscal Responsibility

                                          FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

 Ms. Dorothy Fitzgerald

As involved as I have been in Town of Lisbon affairs, attending council and Finance Committee meetings, I did not realize how bad a shape we are in until this past Tuesday's town council meeting when Interim Town Manager Dale Olmstead gave a presentation on the Fiscal Year 2014/15, Budget Challenges and Opportunities.

He presented the members of the town council with suggestions on trimming our budget and opportunities to make money.  

I will not go into details. Town council meetings are available on The Lisbon Reporter and on Channel 7 at 7 p.m. the first and third Fridays of the month. Please watch.

I see many ways to trim our expenses, many not popular, but at this time, necessary.

Case in point:

In 2013, Amanda Bunker was hired as Town Planner. She began working with the Planning Board June 2013. She assisted with working out problems with illegal businesses on Route 9.

Then she began working with the Planning Board on a Route 196 Master Plan and design standards.

We are paying Mrs. Bunker $20,000 per year. She will be completing her second year with us on June 30, 2014. With her able and dedicated assistance the Master Plan should be completed at that time.
 

I would think that, with Mr. Olmstead's guidance, and with a new, honest and capable Town Manager in our future, we are now on the right path.

It would seem that, in the capable hands of Dennis Douglass, our new Codes Enforcement Officer, and new direction of the Planning Board, that we should be able to continue with the Town's Master Plan without the added expense of a Town Planner.
 

A savings of $20,000 may not seem like much, but a little here and a little there adds up to a LOT.

Dot Fitzgerald

A Concerned Lisbon Citizen