The Triple "L" Club; Lisbon's Lack~n~Leadership

LISBON’S LEADERSHIP

At last night’s Town Council meeting, there were several incidents which passed by without question.  Of course, the audience was not allowed to speak except during Audience Participation and regardless of what questions are asked there is NEVER a valid response from the council. 

The major concern is why the presentation by Runyon Kersteen Ouellette wasn’t recorded so people could see it on Friday night.  It was not a classified brief or a matter of national security so why was it kept from the people?   

 Lisbon Town Manager Stephen G. Eldridge

 Lisbon Town Council Chairman Fern LaRochelle

There are several reasons and the major one is that the council and Mr. Eldridge do not want the people to know that the Undesignated Fund Balance is $226,459.00 below the required acceptance level to comply with Section 86-1 Fund Balance Policy.   Remember that Mr. Eldridge took over as Town Manager the balance on the Undesignated Fund was over $3,000,000.00 that’s right over three million dollars and now it is short $226,459.00.   

How did I arrive at this figure?  

 I took the 2013 Municipal Tax Rate Calculation Standard Form submitted by the town to the state.  Under the Tax Commitment line is $10,422,328.03 and multiplied it times the .125 required in our Charter to determine our Undesignated Fund Balance and came up with $1,302,791.00.  This is what our Undesignated Fund Balance should be but according to the annual audit it is ONLY $1,067,332.00.  You do the math.  I guess this explains the line in the audit that reads “The town’s unassigned fund balance changed from 2012 to 2013 as a result of an unfavorable expenditure budget variance.”

Hang on for the next situation.  On the Agenda was a request for a Supplemental Appropriations for $39,925.00 to be taken from the Town Surplus Fund (Undesignated Fund) to be appropriated to the Town wage accounts in the budget with the appropriate adjustment being credited to each individual wage account!  This translates into a wage increase for town employees.  However, this is wrong in so many ways it is not funny.  Before I go any further, I want to clarify one thing and that is I believe the town WORKERS deserve a pay raise but not management.    

In Mr. Eldridge's contract there is a clause which says “Compensation shall be adjusted by the Town Council on the basis of an annual evaluation, but the increase in compensation shall at least be equal to the increases for non-Union personnel.”  Can anyone guess who is involved in the negotiations process; that’s right Stephen Eldridge!  Of course, there is no conflict of interest; this is just Lisbon justice at work. 

This Supplemental appropriation is a clear violation of the town Charter, Section 86-1, Fund Balance Policy, paragraph (C) which states “Once the town achieves its goal of an appropriate level of undesignated fund balance, any excess fund may be utilized for other municipal purposes, including, without limitation, additional capital improvement needs, tax rate stabilization or reduction purposes….”   

Since the balance on the Undesignated Fund is below the required figure this supplemental appropriation is a violation of the town Charter.  Mr. Eldridge and the town council do not care what is in the Charter.  Management does what it wants regardless of what the Charter says.

Once again, this shows the total lack of leadership in this community.

Larry Fillmore