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City attorney proposes $850,000 lump‑sum contract after post‑storm spike in legal work
Summary
City Attorney Nevan Zimmerman proposed replacing most hourly emergency billing with a lump‑sum fee of $850,000 for core legal services next fiscal year, saying hourly charges spiked after Hurricane Michael. Commissioners asked for a clean contract, tighter carve‑outs for special projects and budget clarity on where the lump sum would be funded.
City Attorney Nevan Zimmerman proposed a lump‑sum contract for general legal services the commission should consider as the staff builds the FY26 budget, saying Hurricane Michael and the subsequent recovery created a multiyear spike in legal workload that drove billings far above ordinary levels.
“We proposed a… lump sum fee of $850,000,” Zimmerman told the commission, characterizing the figure as lower than recent annual billings and intended to provide predictable legal costs while carving out extraordinary matters for separate negotiation.
Zimmerman reviewed recent historical billing: fiscal year 2022–23 total billings from the firm were about $1.8 million, with roughly $800,000 attributable to what he called “special projects.” The next year the total dropped to roughly $1.5 million (about $500,000 in special projects). For the current year he estimated total billings near $1.2 million with special projects around $250,000. The proposed $850,000 lump sum,…
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