This morning, I was in contact with a member of the county legal department to receive clarification on several incorrect items that have been floating around in the public concerning their salaries and benefits. In an article written in the Hernando Today this week, the salaries of the county attorneys, along with their support staff, included benefits. The way the article was written it gave the reader the impression their benefits were in addition to the stated salaries when, in fact, they were already included in the total, per individual.
Mr. Weissinger's salary and benefits have been funded primarily by the Utility Regulation Fund (prior to the purchase of Florida Water) or the Utilities enterprise fund for the past seven years. This funding mechanism for Mr. Weissinger is abundantly clear in the county budget. The Utilities Department budget specifically takes into consideration the need for specialized legal work, such as litigation or human resources matters. These services are handled by the appropriate county attorney who specializes in such law. This budget arrangement for the Utilities Department allows for an "equivalent" of an attorney position, while the work is assigned to the appropriate lawyer to handle any particular matter in the most effective way. This method creates a trade-off of services for the Utilities Department to cover all the requirements of their legal needs.
The lead attorney, Mr. Garth Collar has estimated that the Utilities Department is 50% of Mr. Weissinger's legal work. The remaining 50% of budgeted legal work for the Utilities Department is handled by the appropriate county attorney for specialized work, such as litigation and human resources. The theory behind this accounting method is that only ratepayers (of Utilities) pay for the Utilities Department's legal work, rather than requiring the general public (who are not ratepayers) subsidize this legal work through the general fund.
Cries of fraud were heard from Jaz Zydenbos, candidate for county commission, district 1, on local talk radio this morning as he berated Commissioner Stabins. These unfortunate comments by Mr. Zydenbos could have been prevented had he researched the legal department's funding mechanisms for himself. Mr. Stabins was correct in stating that paying Mr. Weissinger through the Utilities Department was actually saving taxpayers money because Ad Valorem dollars are not used to fund that legal position.
This unique budgetary procedure of the legal department, and the utility department, actually saves a tremendous amount of money by eliminating the need to process each legal procedure through the clerk of court's office which carries stiff administrative fees. This procedure also ensures that Utilities Department receives the appropriate legal services, without taking the tax dollars out of the general fund.
8 comments:
ALC,
Excellent. The results of your initiated research must be forwarded to the appropriate media outlet. At least the paper will have the makings of a balanced followup article.
Thanks for your efforts.
HPD
Thanks!
What's most unfortunate in this whole mess is that Mr. Coller has been unable to offer an explanation of what the County Attorney does in an intelligent and understandable manner. Instead he seems to prefer to "dumb it down" for consumption in public by commissioners, and the electorate as a whole gets fed Master Bates' misinformation (as supplied and encouraged by JB).
The County Attorney's function is most importantly to keep his client OUT OF COURT. It takes a significant staff to do that, so that preventative law is practiced by early and frequent advice to staff and extensive document preparation and review.
Insurance defense handles most tort claims. Without that, additional litigation specialists would be needed at higher cost in-house. As it is, Coller's present staff focuses on keeping the County legal and out of court. This doesn't necessarily fit the LawNOrder, PerryMason, Nancy Grace -fixated public and opens the door for attacks by JB, MB and whoever is calling the editorial shots at the Media General rag. Can't wait for them to give up the ghost and join the rest of the dead-tree media on the way to the old media graveyard.
Thanks. I was'nt aware that a citizen could contact a member of the legal dept. and ask about their salaries and benefits. Can you do the same to dept. heads and other county employees?
Oh, please. This was a budget blind, nothing more. When the Commissioners reviewed the line annual line item total for the CA's office it appeared to be $115,000 less than it really was. It was hidden in fine print and accounting, thus the ignorance of the Commissioners interviewed. Just another way for the CA to bloat his budget. And the staff and beginning attorney total compensation is still WAY out of range with the private sector.
Based on the salaries listed in the Hernando Today, the Hernando County Attorney's Office has a $4.42/capita per year for legal services.
Garth Collar average hourly salary is $63.86/hour, with the average hourly rate for his attorneys at $40.35/hr. These hourly rates are miniscule when compared to local, private sector attorney fees. Compare their salaries with the $175.00 hour fee being charged to the city of Brooksville from their contract, private law firm.
The county legal salaries have been checked for conformance with comparable agencies by outside "auditors" for the BOCC every several years so this call for an another outside audit would be a duplication of services; a duplication that will cost the taxpayers twice for the same information.
GC: $63.86, his (I thought they were ours) attorneys:$40.35, Brooksville private attorney $175.00 per hour.
Me thinks there are many private attorneys who accomplish more in an hour of billable time than the government attorneys accomplish in 10.
It the GC attorneys were such hotshots, they probably wouldn't be working for the government.
After reading this morning's H. Times, it looks like the county taxpayers got their money's worth with the county legal staff with them winning the ruling against the city for their annex plans for 900+ acres south of the downtown district...
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