LISBON (WGME) – A Lisbon Town Council meeting was packed with people worried about a potential tax increase Tuesday night.

This comes after an auditing firm reviewing the town’s finances discovered a multi-million-dollar error.

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Now some are worried they’ll be forced to foot the bill to get the budget back on track.

Residents want an investigation done, and they want a forensic audit of the town’s budget.

An accounting firm says the town ended up having to fill a $2.4 million hole.

The town is now telling residents there will be a tax increase and many are worried about how much their taxes will go up and if they can afford it.

One resident says she can’t afford a potential tax hike.

“What is the answer? You are not going to cut it sounds like and we are going to have to pay for that. I’m a widow, I have lived here for 50 years. My income doesn’t change and I can’t afford much more,” Donna DeWitt, a Lisbon resident, said.

Lisbon leaders chose to dip into their rainy day fund to remedy part of the problem, but there is still a shortfall.

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Some parts of the town that could be affected by cuts include the school budget, rec department, and library.

One resident says the school’s are hanging on by a thread and can’t take on cuts.

“We are holding this school department together duck tape and glue. The idea that we are going to vote budget down again and go through what we dealt with seven, eight, nine, years agoOur school district is still dealing with the devastation of those cuts,” a Lisbon resident said.

Another resident, who has already pulled his kids out of the Lisbon school system, says he’s worried about the future of the town.

“I have a gut feeling. I have had it in me since last fall when I discovered that our numbers were kind of unsustainable. I think they are going to vote down next years school budget, which is unfortunate, because I think some there is overcrowding going on in Lisbon as we received new population during the pandemic and everything is all cumulating at once,” Charlie Turgeon, a Lisbon resident, said.

On top of all this, just last week, the town’s finance director, Samantha Bryant, submitted her resignation, effective July 2.

Her resignation letter doesn’t say why she’s leaving.

Both the school budget and municipal budget will be voted on in the coming weeks. The next full council meeting will be held on July 1st.