Lisbon Finance Committee's Culture of Corruption Explained!!!

MORE PERTINENT INFORMATION!!

 Is this the Future of Lisbon?  
(photo: http://motorcitymuckraker.com/blog/2013/07/30/chinese-investors-start-gobbling-up-cheap-houses-in-detroit/  )

It is critical that someone take the time to look into how our tax dollars are being spent and why our taxes go up every year.  It is a sure bet that the Finance Committee will never find any of these abnormalities within the town because they are the ones that created them when they were councilors.

According to the 2012-2013 Annual Report, there are 227 residents who owe past taxes on Real Estate (Pages 30 – 33) and 60 businesses that owe past Personal Property (Page 34).  The total for Real Estate taxes is $398,125.83 and the total for Personal Property tax is $96,921.19.   This is a considerable amount of money and a clear indication of the economy, or is it?

I am struggling with the fact that on the Personal Property tax side the majority of unpaid taxes are possible members of the “Good Old Boy” network and have not paid their taxes for years without any repercussions.  I say this because there are some prominent businesses on this list.

I understand that the yearly raising of taxes has put a burden on many residents who are on a fixed income.  However, it is only fair that everyone pay their fair share of taxes.  Under the new management of the town and with the cooperation of the current Town Council, I am sure that arrangements can be made to collect these back taxes in smaller amounts.

Remember, former Chairman LaRochelle whose company owed back taxes due to a mistake supposedly made by the town but never recognized by LaRochelle Properties, Inc for over twelve (12) years.  Chairman LaRochelle only paid the back taxes and none of the Interest and Penalties owed to the town.  Rest assured, if you owe back taxes, the town will force you and I to pay both Interest and Penalties.

Our Undesignated Fund has been robbed by excessive and frivolous spending by members of our former Town Council, Chief Brooks and Stephen Eldridge to the tune of over $2,000,000.00 of our tax dollars.   These funds the people will never be able to recover, however, it is imperative that the current Town Council and the Interim Town Manager put an immediate stop to it and I believe they are doing just that.

People have said in the past that my reporting of discrepancies and abnormalities has hurt the town.  My only concern is to identify the problems and bring them to the attention of both the people and management.  It is the responsibility of the Town Council and the Interim Town Manager to correct these situations.

Who else will do the investigative research; the Finance Committee?

Larry Fillmore