Sometimes you have to sit back and study some things. The numbers are in. The proposed 2025–2026 Falmouth budget is out, and at first glance, it looks balanced. No deficit. Some trims. A few carryovers. It all looks good, until you actually read it.
Some things at the first few glances go unnoticed. When you study it and compare and contrast you see patterns and abuses in accounting that go back for years. Let’s just take the last 3 for a quick look.
Because behind all the polished categories and lined-up totals, this thing is leaking red flags like a busted hydrant. Something Falmouth is synonymous for.
The $208,000 Cruiser Lease
Last year, the police department had a $208,000 line item for cruiser leases. It was one of the largest single expenses in the entire department. This year? Gone. No payoff notice. No notation. No transfer to another account. Just wiped from existence like it never happened. What replaced it? Nothing, except a still-rising gasoline budget and uniform costs that somehow still climb without any reference to the vehicles they’re meant for. What kind of budget eliminates the largest asset lease in the department with no explanation? We know what kind.
$365,350 in Vague “Whatever-We-Want” Spending
This year’s budget has over $365,000 labeled under blanket categories that basically mean, “Don’t ask.”
“Miscellaneous Other”
“Supplies”
“Uniforms & Accessories”
“Training / School / Licenses”
“Travel / Lodging / Per Diem”
And the biggest one: $150,000 labeled “Other” tied to a school sale—with zero details.
These aren’t small leftovers. That’s a six-figure shadow budget spread across departments, with no paper trail in sight. No itemization. No vendors. No project IDs. Just blank-check territory. That’s not city budgeting. That’s a discretionary cash bucket.
The Full Red Flag Rundown
Police Cruiser Lease ($208K) disappears without explanation
Fire Department County Run Revenue ($37,500 last year) now listed as $0
“Reserves” in Electric, Water, and Garbage funds go negative, meaning they’re dipping into future funds to cover today’s holes
No loan reduction schedules the KIA and R&D loans stay flat, no payments shown
Special accounts like LGEA, ARPA, ABC list balances but show no spending
Cruiser-related expenses still budgeted (gas, uniforms) with no actual cruisers accounted for Miscellaneous and “Other” line items stacked across every department, totaling hundreds of thousands
Clerk’s office gets $6,000 in “training” while the same line in other departments gets $500
Travel and per diem quietly scaled down but not eliminated, leaving just enough room to claim accountability while still funding unchecked trips
Three Years of This Same Playbook
This isn’t a one-off. The 2023–2024 budget had the same game:
Padded miscellaneous funds
Silent loan lines
Capital outlay with no description
The 2024–2025 budget cranked it up:
Negative reserves started showing up
Cruiser lease first appeared, then never paid down
Grants like ARPA sat in limbo with no use plan
Now, here we are. Third round. Same tricks, cleaner packaging. Falmouth’s budget isn’t evolving, it’s just refining the art of plausible deniability. Everything looks just legitimate enough to survive a quick glance. But if you’ve followed the last three years, you know this isn’t mismanagement. It’s the script. And someone’s been milking the lines no one’s been watching. Well now the whispers are watching.
Whisper One Out