Today, I had the privilege of paying $75.00 to the
town of Lisbon for information I never asked for. When you ask
for information under the Freedom of Access Act (FOAA), you are at the mercy of
the town. The town determines what information they
want to provide to you and how long it will take them to gather the
information. The cost is
determined by state law. The first hour is free but all hours
after the first; you have to pay $15.00 per hour.
My original FOAA request is
below:
Mrs. Colston
This is a FOAA request.
I am looking for the money taken out of the
Undesignated Fund the last four years. Can you provide this information by years?
Thank you
I did not ask for any detail of what the
money was used for; I ONLY asked for the amount taken out of the Undesignated
Fund for the last four years. What I received was:
In response to Larry Filmore’s FOAA request:
2016: $10,293.47 was taken from unassigned fund
balance to cover charter requirements for maintaining a reserve funded by
animal control fees
2017: N/A nothing was designated
or spent from fund balance.
2018: The following amounts were designated and
spent from fund balance:
$50,000 for computer server
upgrade. $30,663 has been spent to date.
$20,000 has been designated for
Generator pad and infrastructure
$30,000 was designated for Town
clerk storage. $26,547 was spent an
the remainder put back into fund balance
$40,000 was designated and spent
for Police radio upgrades
$35,000 was designated and
spent for a Police cruiser
$75,000 was designated for the
Fire Department Capital Improvements
$300,000 was designated for
public works trucks. $275,445 was spent
and the remainder put back into fund balance
$20,000 was designated and
spent for Recreation Department
playground
$25,000 was designated for new
flooring in various town buildings. The
money was not required and was put back into
fund balance.
2019: The following amounts have been designated for
use during the upcoming year:
$26,125 for an error in 2018
Technology budget
$50,000 to establish an accrued
leave payout reserve
$10,000 for Book restorations
in the clerks office
$7,800 for Police Department
firearms upgrades
$50,000 for the Fire Department
various equipment upgrades
$8,000 for carpeting in the
Library
$323,274 to pay off outstanding
debt service.
According to the town, I was
billed for 5 hours to put this information together. I cannot understand why it took so long to gather
this information. The Finance Director has, not one but two, computer system in which
to extract this information which should have taken 15 minutes per year at the
most. By the way, we taxpayers are paying for both systems to be operating at
the same time.
Also, if you look the town
did not provide what I ask for and that was the total amount per year. Instead
they provided some detail but I challenge this information because the town
claims that NO funds were taken from the Undesignated Fund in 2017. This has to be a mistake because the Town
Council spends money like drunken sailors without accountability.
I personally believe that this is an attempt
to discourage citizens from challenging the Town Manager, Diane Barnes’ budgeting
actions and to punish those that do. The Finance Director did not comply with the
original request but provided information that was not requested; which is a
violation of state law.
Residents beware when dealing with the town and
especially the Town Manager.
Larry Fillmore