West Windsor’s fiscal year 2012 legal fees were $286,141.59 between January 1 and December 31, 2012.
In January, 2013, prior to the adoption of a fiscal year 2013 municipal budget, Council and administration couldn’t wait to craft the no-bid base legal fees of roughly $240,000 for a part-time job.
Note this 2012 sum excluded bond counsel ($50,000), labor counsel ($30,000), and tax appeals counsel ($20,000) for an additional $100,000.
Therefore, the total was closer to $386,000 in response to an OPRA records filing.
By contrast, the same lawyer and same firm in a nearby township was paid $40,000.
Question: Why are taxpayers subsidizing West Windsor’s legal costs a generous seven times greater? Is it the form of government? Or is it the litigious nature of the respective administrations and “leadership”?
Shouldn’t the role of experienced counsel save the client money? If so, what were the commensurate savings?
If the administration cannot document its monthly legal expenditures, Council should demand an itemized monthly accounting and share it with taxpayers.
Previously, West Windsor Council authorized $40,000 to yet another lawyer to defend Mayor Hsueh’s opposition to answering a former Councilman’s questions in a timely fashion. If the form of government were different, that point would be moot.
Can West Windsor afford the current mayor-council form of government?
Pete Weale
Penns Neck
