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Committee probes Law Department budgets for judgments, outside counsel and water‑sewer contract
Summary
During the June 18 finance hearing the Law Department budget drew questions about large judgments and settlements, recent outside counsel costs for a state water‑and‑sewer agreement, and how judgment expense lines are reported in the FY2026 budget.
The Somerville City Council Finance Committee reviewed the Law Department’s FY2026 budget on June 18, with councilors asking for clarity about large settlement and outside counsel expenses that affected FY2025 spending.
Councilor Mabaugh pressed the department on a “special items” line that appeared in budget materials and asked whether it reflected judgments and settlements or outside counsel costs. Mike Mastroboni, budget director, clarified that “that $5.29 is allocated to human resources, not law,” and explained that building insurance and judgments and settlements are separate lines in the appropriation reports.
Mastroboni told the committee that the city budgeted roughly $2.25 million for judgments and settlements in FY2025 (as presented in the appropriation) but that actual FY2025 spending included a large settlement related to the 90 Washington Street case: “we spent $16,200,000 to settle the 90 Washington case,” he said. For FY2026, the budgeted amount for judgments and settlements is $250,000, Mastroboni said.
City legal staff and the budget director also described a recent supplemental appropriation to cover outside counsel and contract work tied to a state water‑and‑sewer outflow project: the city recently finalized a contract for that project, and related legal and contracting costs required an appropriation because the work could not have been anticipated earlier in the fiscal year.
Councilors asked where other city legal services (for example, programs providing legal assistance to immigrants and tenants) are budgeted. Law department staff said those programs fall under other departments’ budgets (a department identified as Sawyer in the hearing), not the Law Department appropriation.
Committee members asked follow‑up questions about how appropriation lines appear in the budget book and requested clearer labeling for judgments, building insurance, and outside counsel costs so the council can track major litigation and related spending during the FY2026 process.
No formal appropriation votes on the Law Department were taken at the hearing; motions on budget cuts or additions were noted as appropriate for the committee’s cut night.
