Posted by Shore Publishing on Sep 04 2008, 03:40 PM
By Marianne Sullivan, Source Senior Staff Writer
The town spent $558,833.95 for legal expenses in the 2007-2008 fiscal year–nearly $425,000 more than was budgeted. In this present fiscal year, which just began July 1, the town has spent $196,192.33–more than $31,000 more than was budgeted for the entire year. Last week First Selectman Al Goldberg asked the Board of Selectmen for another $250,000.
The major reason for the special request, Goldberg said, was the continuing investigations into the Madison Police Department and the 96 appeals filed after the recent property revaluation.
“The budget process began 10 months ago,” Goldberg said. “Despite the best efforts of the town staff and the elected officials who serve on our boards, the total cost of cleaning up the Police Department exceeded the estimates.”
When his office, the selectmen, the Board of Finance, and the Police Commission were putting together the 2008-2009 budget, Goldberg said, all asked if there were likely to be more legal costs.
“The answer was no, that there would not be the costs we saw in the previous fiscal year,” he said, noting that the continuing investigations and costs “are a complete wildcard.”
He added, “This is mostly due to the fact that all of the wrongdoing had not yet come to light as the budgets were being prepared. The Police Commission is doing a terrific job in cleaning up the department. Their investigations have been exhaustive and fair. I believe Madison is willing to pay the price to restore confidence in its Police Department.”
Assessment Appeals
While legal costs surrounding the Police Department, its internal investigations, and the series of appeals filed by the terminated officers continue to accrue, the largest legal expense to date in this new fiscal year has been the 96 appeals filed by property owners disputing their assessments from the recently completed revaluation. Records from the town’s finance office show that the town has paid the law firm of Milano & Wanat $140,400. Goldberg said the contract with the firm pays them a flat fee of $1,800 to handle each appeal. There were more appeals than expected.
Goldberg said he and Finance Director Dotty Bavin looked at the legal budget, which was already showing a deficit two weeks ago, and chose to address the problem as soon as possible. He requested a $250,000 special appropriation. Fellow selectmen approved the request last week. It now goes to the Board of Finance for discussion and action. Should the finance board approve it, the request will require approval from a town meeting.
Where has the legal budget been spent? The 2008-2009 fiscal year includes a legal budget of $165,000. The funds have been spent in a variety of accounts. According to the finance department, here they are:
• Appeals of assessments: $141,520
• Legal appraisals:$4,853
• Various appeals from previous revaluation: $5,220
• General land use/land use attorney:$2,667
• Police Department: $27,196
• General counsel and Board of Selectmen: $14,735.
In the 2007-2008 fiscal year, the budget for legal costs totaled just $134,254 initially. It was later increased by a $100,000 special appropriation, and then a $300,000 special appropriation. The revised budget then totaled $534,254, but the town still overspent it, resulting in a $24,579 deficit in the account.
In the 2007-2008 fiscal year, although there were still costs for property revaluation appeals–more than $120,000–the largest legal costs came from the Police Department where the total was $337,420.