Six companies responded to the town’s request for bids.
By Gail Geraghty
Staff Writer

PARIS – Selectmen have agreed to switch auditing companies, saying it’s time for a fresh pair of eyes to look at town finances.

“I think it is time to have someone different, even though they’ve done an excellent job,” head Selectman Ray Glover said recently of the Farmington auditing firm of RHR Smith & Co., which the town has employed for five years or more.

Six companies responded to the town’s request for bids. Of six companies responding, RHR Smith and Co. was the low bidder at $3,500 for 2002-03 auditing services.

Selectmen passed over RHR’s bid in favor of the next-highest bidder: Gaisford, Hoisington, Akerberg and Bean P.A. of Norway. The Norway firm bid $4,000 for the 2002-03 fiscal year, $4,200 for 2003-04 and $4,450 for 2004-05.

Selectman Gerald Kilgore opposed the change. He cited the increased cost and said “you don’t cut someone down” if they’re doing a good job for the town.

Town Manager Steve McAllister said the Maine Municipal Association recommends that towns change auditing companies every three or four years, “so things don’t become stagnant.”

He said the Norway firm has a long list of towns it works for, including Norway. McAllister added that by bidding three years out, the town knows what its costs will be in advance.

Glover said the MMA recommendation seemed like sound advice. “You want to make sure they’re seeing everything in the widest possible way,” he said.

Bruce Hanson noted that Gaisford, Hoisington, Akerberg & Bean is a local business that was willing to make a three-year commitment. “The cost of doing business goes up every year,” he said.

The other bidders were Larry Campbell of Lewiston, $4,100; Clark, Friel and Nicholson, P.A., of Auburn, $4,500; Purdy Powers & Co. of Portland, $4,670; and Ron L. Beaulieu & Co. of Portland, $4,934.

ggeraghty@sunjournal.com