The District of Lantzville has spent $22,832 more on legal fees this year than it originally anticipated.
The information was revealed during a committee of the whole meeting on Monday night, which saw councillors begin the process of going over and adopting the district’s 2018-2022 financial plan.
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As of Oct. 6, the district has spent $55,832 on legal expenses for all of 2017 according Lantzville’s 2018-2022 financial plan, which indicates that the district is expecting to spend $65,000 on legal fees for the whole year, or $32,000 more than the budgeted amount of $33,000.
According to documents obtained by the News Bulletin as a result of a freedom of information request, the District of Lantzville spent $44,979 on legal fees in 2015 and $46,958 on legal fees in 2016.
During Monday’s meeting, Coun. Mark Swain suggested more money should be allocated in 2018 for legal expenses, especially given how much money has already been spent in 2017. The district has budgeted $33,000 for legal fees for next year.
“I think this number might be quite underestimated for this upcoming year,” he said.
Swain said from 2009-14, the district was under budget when it came to legal fees. He said in 2015 the district went $12,000 over their legal budget and $4,000 over budget in 2016.
Coun. Denise Haime, who did agree with increasing the district’s legal budget, said while the district is over budget for 2017, it was only because the budgeted number was reduced from previous years.
“That’s why the difference seems so extreme, we actually made our budget lower anyway,” she said. “If we actually put it just back up to normal budget levels the percentage increase would not be that extreme.”
Swain said the district must prepare for the incoming legal costs for 2018 by budgeting accordingly. He said the district should budget around $35,000 in legal fees for next year.
“It’s only now that we are significantly over budget,” Swain said. “I don’t think it is a distortion of fact and I think we need to prepare for 2018 being significantly over budget.”
Councillors have only just begun the budgeting process for 2018, which is earlier than normal. In years past, the process has begun in January; however, a decision was made to begin financial planning for next year in October.