The town spent more than $500,000 in legal fees last fiscal year.

First Selectman Al Goldberg called the $250,000 fund request a “heavy hit at the beginning of the year,” but said he expected expenditures to slow down in the coming months.

Director of Finance Dorothy Bavin said the $250,000 special appropriation, to be considered by selectmen tonight, is expected to cover expenses for the rest of the fiscal year.

The town budgeted $165,000 for this fiscal year, Bavin said. Of that, $121,000 has been spent, and $76,000 is committed but has not yet been paid — amounting to about $197,000.

It is not the first time legal fees have cost the town more than what it has budgeted.

In the fiscal year that ended June 30, the town had budgeted about $134,000 for legal fees. But the town paid lawyers more than $534,000, of which $337,420 was spent on legal fees in the Police Department, where eight officers have been fired, suspended or faced charges in recent months.

To compensate for the difference, the town last year moved $400,000 from contingency funds and other budget items, Goldberg and Bavin said.

When budget talks began in February, Goldberg said, the legal fees were increased by more than $30,746 from last year. It was not increased further, he said, because officials expected Police Department hearings would be concluded by this fiscal year.

A hearing has been postponed for Lt. Michael O’Connor, who faces administrative charges relating to his supervisory duties.

Chief Paul Jakubson is currently on paid administrative leave pending a hearing into his conduct in overseeing the department.

Officer Ernest J. Boggs Jr. faces misdemeanor motor vehicle charges, but has not been subject to administrative charges.

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, as well as forensic accountants, are conducting investigations into the department.

The State Police Professional Standards Unit has taken over all pending internal investigations, a move Board of Police Commissioners Chairman Emile Geisenheimer said would save the town money because town attorneys would be responsible for less of the workload.

Also, there are 96 residents who were dissatisfied with the results of their appeals to the Board of Assessment Appeals and are taking the cases to court — forcing the town to spend money defending its decisions, Goldberg said.

“None of us involved in the budget process foresaw these two developments to the extent they’ve materialized,” Goldberg said of the revaluation appeals and police expenditures.

The $250,000 special appropriation request would come from the general fund, Goldberg said. If other line items are under budget at the end of the fiscal year, it could balance out, he said.

In June, $300,000 — the majority of the special appropriation needed last fiscal year — was transferred to cover the legal expenses incurred last fiscal year, Board of Finance Chairwoman Kathy Rossini has said.

The Board of Selectmen will meet tonight at 7:30 in the Madison Room at Town Campus.

Amanda Pinto can be reached at apinto@nhregister.com or 789-5734.