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Council asked to increase legal budget by $150,000 to cover outside counsel for major purchase negotiation
Summary
The legal department requested a $150,000 amendment to its budget to cover outside counsel fees tied to a purchase-and-sale negotiation; staff said about $70,510 has already been billed and noted that court-awarded fees are paid to the General Fund, not the legal budget line.
Wellington’s legal department asked the council to amend its budget by $150,000 to cover outside counsel and related closing costs for a recent purchase-and-sale negotiation.
Legal staff reported the town has already incurred approximately $70,510 in outside counsel fees on the matter and expects additional invoices. The department said it typically budgets $200,000 for outside counsel in a year but that this negotiation required higher hourly rates due to the project’s complexity and the particular experience the town sought.
During discussion, a councilmember asked whether court-awarded attorney fees offset the legal department’s budget. Miss Cohen, who presented the item, said, "It just goes into the General Fund. It doesn't come back to my specific budget." The councilmember asked staff to provide an accounting of court-awarded fee receipts that have been deposited into the General Fund and the degree to which they have offset legal expenditures.
Legal staff also said Sunshine constraints require outside counsel to meet individually with council members when appropriate, which increased time and cost for the negotiation.
Ending: The council did not record a final vote in the transcript excerpt; staff requested the budget amendment to cover the outstanding and anticipated invoices and to ensure closing costs are covered.
