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 18, 2012

Lisbon's fiscal Mismanagement.‏

February brings cold temperatures and thoughts of next years budget.

It has come to my attention, thanks to Mr. Filmore's research, that Lisbon is paying over 160 thousand dollars in excessive salaries for just 8 of our department heads when compared to Skowhegan's pay scale. (A town of similar size)

Finance Director --------------$11,748 more than Skowhegan
Town Manager-----------------$23,749
Code Enforcement
Landfill
Transfer Station----------------$20,637
Economic Development------$11,367
Police Chief----------------------$7,521
Fire Chief-------------------------$3,180
Wastewater Supv.--------------$11,614
Town Engineer------------------$70,723
                               Total-----$160,539 more than Skowhegan

If you apply this to the FY11's total tax levy of $9,654,000, we are paying approx. 40 cents of our Mil rate for these excessive salaries. That's about $60 dollars for the average $150,000
dollar house.

Now keep in mind this is just 8 employees.. If you go through our entire budget I am confident you will find this is only the tip of the iceberg.

Last Nov. we went to the ballot box and told our council we want to vote on the Town budget. This vote was a resounding Mandate of over 80% .

Despite this mandate last weeks council meeting saw the foundation being set to deny us our vote on the Town Budget. Several of the founders of our charter were requested to speak to give their reasons for not letting the taxpayers vote on the budget.

The Councilors still don’t “get it”   WE WANT TO VOTE ON THE BUDGET. There is no room for interpretation.    WE WANT TO VOTE.....

What is keeping our councilors from respecting the will of the people. Do they have some financial or other reason for snubbing their noses at the electorate?

I have heard rumors of town corruption and mismanagement for years. Most of these I have taken with a grain of salt but after this obvious disregard for the publics wishes I am not so sure that the rumors don’t have a basis in truth.

It is time to pull our heads out of the sand and fix our fiscal problems. Ignoring them will only make matters worse.

We may need a forensic audit to uncover the full extent of this mismanagement.

Respectfully
Joe Hill
LisbonMaine.net