Lafayette trustee charged $36K to dwelling enchancment shops

EDITOR’S NOTE: That is one of a number of reviews on court-ordered launch of Fairfield Township’s bank card data and what these bank card statements reveal. Nonetheless, Trustee Taletha Coles didn’t flip over the receipts for the credit score bank card purchases and there are lacking statements..

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Fairfield Township Trustee Taletha Coles chalked up her $113,259 in bank card expenses over three years to her renovations on the township’s workplace on Wabash Avenue, however solely $36,691.51 will be immediately tied to dwelling enchancment purchases.

A Journal & Courier’s ongoing evaluation of the court-ordered launch of the township’s bank card statements confirmed that between January 2019 and July 2021, Coles charged $36,691.51 to native dwelling enchancment shops, in addition to to Simply Blinds, Greatest Purchase, and Cork Flooring.

Taletha Coles, Fairfield Township trustee, during a Fairfield Township budget proposal meeting, Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021 in Lafayette.

Nonetheless, there are a number of months that wouldn’t have bank card statements, and there are statements which might be solely two pages. The paperwork point out there are a number of lacking pages that weren’t offered to the general public.

The Journal & Courier emailed Coles for remark in regards to the spending, together with greater than $2,000 of purchases at Greatest Purchase in March 2020. Coles didn’t reply.

In Could 2019, Coles charged $984 to Simply Blinds, presumably for the township’s workplace. She additionally charged greater than $1,300 that month to Nationwide Enterprise Furnishings. In June 2019, Coles charged $2,652.59 to Cork Flooring and $700 to Kirklands in Lafayette.