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

Monday, August 6, 2018

WHY ARE WE PAYING SUCH HIGH TAXES?

The taxpayers in Lisbon have had their taxes raised for the last four years and will probably experience an increase in taxes every year from here on out. This trend must stop if the taxpayers of Lisbon are going to stay out of bankruptcy. We have been over taxed for the last four years and I will explain it to you.

Take a look at the carry forward for this year and it is the same for the last four years:

I did not total all of the funds here but as you can see it is a large amount of your tax dollars. So where did all this money come from and why is it being carried forward? Was this money left over from previous year budget; if so, someone needs to explain why our taxes were raised if the town did not need our money? Personally, I would have been happy to keep my own money.

Now, let’s take a look at the Undesignated Fund expenditures for the last four years:

As you can see, the town spent a lot of money from the Undesignated Fund. Look at it by years:

2016 $10,293.47

2017 None (Which I do not believe)

2018 $595,000.00

2019 $475,199.00

Well, how did the town get so much money in the Undesignated Fund? Apparently, the tooth fairy blessed Lisbon. I have a better answer and that is the Town Manager, Diane Barnes has been padding her budget without the knowledge of the Town Council. The Town Council has been supporting the Town Manager instead of supporting us, the taxpayers. This is really ridiculous to have so much money left over every year and have so much money in the Undesignated Fund.

This is our tax dollars at work. This explains the high taxes and where our tax dollars are going. We need to tell the Town Manager, Diane Barnes, that we will not put up with this from now on. The Town Council has to start making the Town Manager accountable for her actions. I realize that she works for the Town Council and not the citizens of Lisbon; so it is the Town Council responsibility to see that this never happens again. Having over a half million dollars every year is ripping the taxpayers off every year.

It is time to hold both the Town Council and the Town Manager accountable for the way they spend our tax dollars.

Larry Fillmore

PS The Town is charging me $75.00 for the Undesignated Fund information. Apparently, with two computer systems (MUNIS and TRIO) it took 6 hours to put this information together.