Notice To All Lisbon Residents

All Lisbon Residents

I have attended several meetings of the Lisbon Town Council and have looked into the tax situation.  I have reviewed several documents pertaining to taxation from the State of Maine Revenue Service and received a copy of the Lisbon Charter.  After careful review, it is my personal opinion the Town Manager has violated the Town Charter.  I have submitted a letter to the Town Council requesting the Town Manager be terminated for cause.  Below are the violations:

    a. The Town Manager failed to comply with paragraph 3.02 “… The Manager shall be responsible to the council for the proper administration of all affairs of the Town….” by misleading the Town Council into thinking the 2011 Commitment was prepared properly and contained all the documentation required by the State of Maine Property Tax Bulletin Number 15 in order to have a valid commitment. 

    b. The Town Manager failed to comply with paragraph 3.02(d) “The Manager shall see that all laws, provisions of the charter and acts of the council, subject to enforcement by him or her or by officers subject to his or her direction and supervision, are faithfully executed.”  The Town Manager has been a Town Manager for several years and as such is required to know what documentation is required for a valid commitment.  The Town Manager failed to ensure all required documentation for a valid commitment were prepared by the Tax Assessor.  Town Manager is not required to perform the duties as Tax Assessor but as the Tax Assessors direct supervisor the Town Manager is REQUIRED to have a “working knowledge” of the Tax Assessor position to include the documents necessary for a valid commitment.  The Town Manager is also required to ensure the required documents for “The Valuation Book” are prepared and present in the Tax Assessor’s office as required by State of Maine Property Bulletin Number 15.

 Under the provisions of the paragraph 3.02(d), the Town Manager is required to know the State of Maine laws as pertain to the operation of a municipality.  The Town Manager is the Chief Administrative Officer for the town.  The residents of the Town of Lisbon compensate the Town Manager very well to ensure the town is operating IAW State of Maine laws and regulations.  The Town Manager has failed to perform his required duties by not ensuring the required documentation was on file IAW State of Maine Property Bulletin Number 15.

c.    The Town Manager failed to comply with paragraph 3.02(b) “The Manager
 shall direct and supervise the administration of all departments, offices and agencies of the Town except as otherwise provided by this Charter or by law.”  The Town Manager violated this paragraph by directing the Tax Collector to issue the 2011 Real Estate Tax Bill without a valid commitment.  

The Town Manager’s failure to comply with State of Maine laws has placed the Town of Lisbon is a situation where revenue is being collected improperly and without a valid commitment.  It is my understanding, the town is only authorized to collect taxes under a valid commitment and therefore, the town could continue to collect taxes under last year’s commitment, if it was valid, but can not collect any taxes under the new commitment as it is invalid and therefore does not exist.  The town is fraudulently collecting revenue without a valid commitment which I believe is against the law.  This could cause the Town Council and Town of Lisbon to be liable.

The Town Manager’s dereliction of duty is presently costing the Town of Lisbon a great deal of money.  The obvious additional cost is the hiring of a new Tax Assessor to prepare a valid commitment in order to legally collect revenue.  This includes preparing the documentation required by the State of Maine.  The town already paid for this service to the previous Tax Assessor and because he was not properly supervised and did not prepare the required documentation, the town is paying for this service again.  This additional cost could have been prevented had the Town Manager performed his required duties as outlined in the town charter.

    The town will have to send out new 2011 Real Estate Tax Bill once the town has a valid commitment.  Currently, the town is sending out statements to all the mortgage companies explaining the previous sent 2011 Real Estate Tax Bill sent to mortgage companies was in error.  Hopefully, this will eliminate any excessive home payments for Lisbon residents.  All of these actions require man-hours and postage the town will have to pay.  These additional costs will have to be paid by the residents of the town of Lisbon.  The residents of Lisbon already are paying their fair share without requiring the residents to pay for the incompetence of the Town Manager.  I believe the Town Council should retrieve all additional cost from Town Manager’s pay as he created this situation by failing to perform his duties as required by the charter.

Again, this is my personal opinion but if you share my opinion please, contact members of the Town Council and voice your opinion.  Residents can also attend the Town Council meetings on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month at 06:30 PM at the Town Office and voice their opinion.

Larry A. Fillmore
Lisbon, Maine