Wednesday, June 27, 2001
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Wednesday, June 27, 2001 |
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As lawyer's bill rises, councilman in PTC asks, 'Are we paying too much?' By JOHN MUNFORD
Though no one appears in a rush to replace current City Attorney Rick Lindsey, the Peachtree City Council has been prodded into studying whether it's time to hire its own in-house counsel. Councilman Dan Tennant has spearheaded the issue, saying at last week's council meeting that part of the increase was due to a 30 percent increase in Lindsey's hourly rate. While other council members agreed the increase was largely due to a larger work load Lindsey has handled this year, most were hesitant to bother analyzing whether an in-house attorney could save money. "At $130 an hour, I think it's somewhat of a bargain, said Councilman Steve Rapson, noting that his employer, Fulton County, recently spent $220,000 to hire a new assistant district attorney. So far this budget year, Peachtree City has spent $177,543 of the budgeted $190,600 for city attorney and city solicitor services from Lindsey, according to city records. That reflects a 14 percent increase in the payments for the court solicitor service (up $9,422) and a 34 percent increase in funds used to defend the city in court (up $10,842). In the 1996 fiscal year, the total expenses recorded for the city attorney and solicitor positions were just over $101,000. Just $106,293 was spent for both services during the entire 1999 budget year. However, in fiscal year 2000, the payments jumped to $151,769: a 42 percent increase. Most of that increase $41,248 was also due to increased work as court solicitor and defending the city in various lawsuits, according to city records. The city also pays Lindsey for other professional services such as legal opinions, drafting ordinances and reviewing other legal matters. Since 1996, that payment category has also increased significantly, from $24,651 to $58,413. Councilwoman Annie McMenamin said to hire an attorney experienced with municipal law in cities with similar growth issues could become incredibly expensive. She also said Lindsey has proven to be very accessible whenever he was needed. Mayor Bob Lenox agreed that the recent spike in attorney's fees was significant, but if the city had lost any of its lawsuits Lindsey worked on, it would cost more than Lindsey's current amount of compensation, he argued. Rapson added that Lindsey brings other resources to the table through his law firm, Webb, Lindsey, Collins, Jones and Wade LLC. Tennant argued that given the recent increase in legal bills, it would be prudent for city staff to determine at what point it makes financial sense to hire an in-house attorney. "At some point, it has to be more efficient to have our own attorney," Tennant said, adding that he wasn't sure if the city's current needs warranted such a move. "I don't see our legal bills going down. We may well be best served with outside counsel representing Peachtree City." "There are a lot of other places that don't have their own full-time city attorney," said Councilwoman Carol Fritz. Lenox said council could decide to hire different persons to serve as city attorney and city solicitor. Currently, Lindsey represents the city's legal interests and also serves as the chief prosecutor in city court. Local resident Murray Weed, who formerly served as the in-house legal counsel for Lowndes County, volunteered to help the city study the issue. He quickly added that he's not interested in the job at all. "Councilman [Steve] Rapson is correct: there are hidden costs ... an in-house attorney probably won't pay off," Weed said. Weed noted that some municipalities consider it a conflict of interest for the same person to serve as city attorney and solicitor since there could be a time the city attorney is called upon to defend the city municipal judge. It was decided that Weed could work with finance director Paul Salvatore and Rapson, the city's former finance director. Rapson suggested studying the legal bills over the past five years to get a good handle on the situation.
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