The Lisbon Reporter

WELCOME TO THE LISBON REPORTER. In an effort to keep our community informed of what is going on at local and Federal levels of government, we decided to create this on-line newspaper. It is our hope that this on-line newspaper will help you stay informed so that you can get involved and take action for the benefit of our ENTIRE community. Thank you for visiting and please check back frequently for information about what is happening in LISBON/LISBON FALLS, MAINE USA

Saturday, February 27, 2016

RECAP TOWN COUNCIL WORKSHOP – FEBRUARY 25TH

Last Thursday the Town Council held a joint workshop with the Lisbon School Board to discuss the 2014-2015 Annual Audits. The normal audit review is done in December but since the town changed auditing firms it took longer to prepare the report. In order to show a comparison, the firm had to collect data for several years past which took some time.

The new firm is RHR Smith & Company and a Mr. Greg Chabot went over the audits. It was an intense review and showed, in my eyes, what I already knew. Former Town Manager Stephen Eldridge and Former Finance Director Jessica Malloy really did a number on this town. The significant findings were only two which can be found in the actual report on pages 78 & 79, which the audience could not keep. According to the Town Manager, it will be posted on the town web site but it is not there now.

Mr. Chabot also provides the audience with an eight page “Management Letter” which outlined twelve (12) minor deficiencies. This new firm did a thorough audit and the results were clearly stated. The Town Manager, Diane Barnes and the Finance Director, Edward Karass did not dispute any of the findings. The majority of these finds date back for year’s prior Mrs. Barnes and Mr. Karass arrival.

It is going to take a long period of time to correct the mess created by Mr. Eldridge and Mrs. Malloy. The Town Manager and the Finance Director have been working on these areas for some time now and will continue to eliminate these deficiencies as quickly as possible.

I believe that both the Town Council and the Lisbon School Board thought the audits were done fairly because there were few, if any, questions. I believe Mr. Chabot did an outstanding job explaining the audits.

Larry Fillmore