PORTLAND — A Casco woman trying to investigate the town’s finances has lost her Freedom of Access case against the town.
Superior Court Justice Nancy Mills ruled this week that the auditor’s worksheets Jeannine Oren is seeking are not public records.
Oren, who was on the town’s finance committee when the dispute began, sued Casco and town officials over access to work papers related to the town’s annual audit.
Oren tried to get the work papers after Portland-based Purdy Powers & Company, the auditing firm, reported to the town that it found “material misstatements” in the accounts receivable, accounts payable and special revenue funds during the audit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2010. The firm said the issues have since been corrected.
The town argued that the papers Oren wanted do not belong to the town.
Mills agreed that the auditor’s worksheets are proprietary to the firm and that the town does not have custody or control of them.
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