Lafayette trustee charged $36K to residence enchancment shops

EDITOR’S NOTE: That is one of a number of stories 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 fees over three years to her renovations on the township’s workplace on Wabash Avenue, however solely $36,691.51 will be straight tied to residence enchancment purchases.

A Journal & Courier’s ongoing evaluate 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 residence enchancment shops, in addition to to Simply Blinds, Finest Purchase, and Cork Flooring.

Nonetheless, there are a number of months that shouldn’t have bank card statements, and there are statements which are 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 concerning the spending, together with greater than $2,000 of purchases at Finest Purchase in March 2020. Coles didn’t reply.

In Might 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.