RUMFORD – Selectmen, other town officials and staff, and residents will hear a report by Harold Blake on the status of the municipal audit when the board meets today.

Blake said Wednesday that he wants everyone to hear the same information at the same time.

“The real problem is that the company, TRIO, didn’t have time to train the staff,” he said. “There wasn’t enough training and the recording may not have been done correctly.”

The $1.8 million discrepancy in town books is due to record-keeping and not illegal actions, he said.

He spoke highly of the municipal staff that handles town finances.

“This is the same team that has been in the town since I started auditing,” he said, adding that the town’s books have always balanced, and always by September.

Auditing teams from his Hallowell office visited Rumford municipal offices last week to try to find the discrepancies.

“Almost everything is straightened out. The town did very well and seemed to have watched their expenditures.

There are some cash flow problems, but there is always a lag in cash flow,” he said of the time between making payments and tax collections. “They handled it themselves rather than go to the bank.”

He said his staff is trying to make the computer entry corrections and have been able to follow through on all revenues and expenditures. Possibly complicating the new computer system is the addition of personal property taxes to the bookkeeping.

Although he’s not certain, he said work should be completed soon. Then, a member of his staff will help train the tax collector, treasurer and financial director on how to more accurately input revenues and expenditures.

“Right now, my conference room is all Rumford,” he said.

He said TRIO went through a growth spurt and was negotiating for the sale of the company at about the time Rumford purchased the system in June 2005.

So far, the town has spent just under $21,000 for the software, and plans are to install software that will handle municipal sewer system accounts in the future.

“I think everything will be fine,” Blake said.

The town set aside $8,000 for its annual audit. More money will be needed, but Blake said because he has done Rumford’s audit for years, he won’t charge the usual fees.