TOWN COUNCIL MANIPULATED OVER AND OVER AGAIN!

For the past few years, our Town Council has been manipulated by the Town Manager, Diane Barnes, when it comes to the Municipal budget.  Every year Mrs. Barnes comes in with an outrageous Municipal budget like this year adding $1.9 million dollars to last year’s budget knowing fully well this will never get approval in its entirety.  This is the shell game our Town Manager has been playing for years.

 

This strategy, used by Mrs. Barnes is like a con artist.  The con is to make the mark (in this case the Town Council) believe has done something good by reducing the demand which in this case is the Municipal budget.   I remember this strategy from my school days; two steps forward and one step back.  In this case Mrs. Barnes has proposed an increase of $1.9 million dollars when she knows fully well she will never get the full amount.  But it is important for her to make the Town Council think they have been financially responsible by reducing this budget in the best interest of the community.  This is extremely important for the con to work.  The Councilors actually believe they have save the taxpayer a large amount of tax dollars when this is as far from the truth as you can get. 

Here is how it works!  To understand this you need to first understand the primarily principle of economics which is:

 

                        REVENUE   =   EXPENDITURES

 

Now in Diane Barnes case it is different:

                        REVENUE    +    TAX INCREASE   =   EXPENDITURES

 

This is the reason our taxes go up every year.  Mrs. Barnes is counting on our Town Council to be satisfied with their cuts to not recognize the fact that every years our taxes go up.  Mrs. Barnes does not offer ANY options to reduce the expenditures of the town.  As long as the people continue to pay their taxes the town will never go bankrupt but what about the people?  Do the people of the community, especially those on a fixed income, have the resources to continue paying the tax increases every year?  THE CON IS THAT BY REDUCING THE PROPOSED BUDGET DOES NOT STOP THE INCREASE IN EXPENDITURES OR TAXES GOING UP EVERY YEAR.

 

Our Town Manager, Diane Barnes, knows that the only way to stop the tax increases is to reduce spending which she is not willing to do.  Mrs. Barnes understands that the Town Council is the ONLY entity that has the power to put a stop to this shell game by holding the line on last year’s budget and not letting Mrs. Barnes get away with this shell game she plays every year.  Without the Town Council recognizing what is happening to the people of Lisbon, there is no hope to stop the steady annual increase in our taxes.

 

I guarantee that the people will go bankrupt before the town if this is allowed to continue. 

 

The people need to call their Councilors and demand that this strategy be terminated immediately and that the Town Manager look for ways to reducing the operating cost of the town before forcing the people to pay more taxes.

 

Larry Fillmore