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City administration budgeted large increase in legal fees after prior overrun
Summary
Staff proposed raising FY26 legal-fees budgeting to cover higher invoicing from outside counsel; council discussed moving the total to $300,000 as a cushion based on current billing.
City of Montgomery staff told council during the June 9 budget workshop that the proposed FY26 legal-fees line is substantially higher than the FY25 adopted amount because of higher outside counsel billing this year.
Staff member Mary Anne said two law firms now bill the city and she has budgeted $150,000 for Johnson Petro and $75,000 for Parsons, McIntyre & McLeary, for a combined total of $225,000. “I've got Johnson Petro listed at a 150,000 because last year, we were billed a 150,000,” Mary Anne said. She added the current invoices already exceed the window used to prepare the draft and that the final figure may need to rise further: “I can tell you that that person's is gonna be more than that. It's already more than that based on an email that I sent.”
A council member asked whether the line should be moved to $300,000 to provide cushion; Mary Anne said the city has already paid approximately $134,000 to one firm and that budgeting $300,000 would give a reasonable cushion for the next fiscal year. The workshop discussion included no formal motion to change that line; staff said the figure is a first-round request and subject to revision as the budget is finalized.
Council members raised cost‑control questions but did not adopt a decision at the workshop. Mary Anne said she included the larger budget number to ensure the administration’s FY26 draft reflects anticipated legal spending rather than an understated placeholder.
