Our Voice : Citizens For a Better Lebanon Maine

The special town meeting to explain the 35 % increase in property taxes was held last evening. It was well attended and lasted over two hours. Many residents in attendance still did not have the opportunity to speak. I personally came away from the meeting with more questions than answers and based upon comments many residents felt the same way.

I learned my town does not have a charter with which to operate, it was lost or something. The selectmen have been spending “surplus” funds as needed without a public vote, one selectmen stated they did not want the job knowing what is involved and the tax collector said she “will not collect interest penalty tax at her window until November 1st” even though it has been pointed out to her it requires a referendum vote and would be illegal. The towns accounting process is a mess….and the list goes on

The superintendent of schools spoke and had a one sheet handout detailing the finances of the school district over the last four years. He was well spoken and did a great job explaining the schools situation. Had our own elected officials or the auditor shown similar information detailing the town expense history of  fire,  road, and municipal expenses the same way it would have helped defuse the situation greatly. If there really is no additional spending in the town and the issue is truly one of a change in accounting practices, it would be self evident.

I hope based upon last nights meeting that citizens get more involved and stay involved to drive change and controls within the town. Clearly there are more issues occurring in the town than i am aware of. One gentlemen at the meeting accused selectmen Frizzell of getting 240k for trucking during a storm last year, Frizzell responded with he it wasn’t him who received the money, but his company that received the funds and he gave the town a discount on the materials hauled.  One resident pointed out six trucks a day, were hauling a mountain of timber off a town forestry project. The timber clearing project was ongoing even though a selectmen stated this operation wasn’t starting until the ground froze.  Clearly we need more oversight of the disbursement, bid practices, and management in the town.

I personally believe if we could close the town offices until we could review the budget and controls that we would see a quicker and less apathetic response by the elected officials. If it were to take months to create a charter and get to the bottom of the budget woes at least we would save the expenses. I know this is an extreme rant but it is frustrating to hear “well that’s the way it is sorry, we need surplus”

Lebanon needs reform and more community involvement by it’s citizens. Many in attendance including myself were upset, but one needs to only look in the mirror to see who is responsible; the citizens.  I am considering forming a group to help watch over the finances, encourage unbiased oversight of issues, and spread information of what i see. If you have any interest in being on the emailing list or participating even in the smallest ways please comment or send me you’re email.

I read long ago the definition of insantity is doing the exact same thing over and over an over again and expecting differant results. Lets stop the insanity, join me in invoking a change for the better. I don’t know all we can do, but change won’t occur on it’s own.