The attorney fees controversy has ended.
Board of Finance members voted 5 – 2 Tuesday to approve a new fee schedule for Town Counsel Colleen D. Fries.
The vote results in a raise for Fries starting July 1, and a retroactive decrease in payments for the past six months.
Fries will receive $145 per hour for her work from her date of hire, Dec. 7, 2009, through the end of the fiscal year June 30.
On July 1, her hourly rate will increase to $160.
First Selectman Paul Roy said selectmen had opted for a higher fee — the previous town attorney, Shelton-based George Temple, received $125 per hour — to keep Seymour’s compensation in line with that of other nearby and similarly-sized towns.
Charter Snafu
Fries started working at a $160-per-hour rate in December, after the Board of Selectmen approved the new rate.
But the Board of Finance never approved the increase, so the raise was invalid under town charter rules.
When the violation of town charter came to light, the Board of Finance held a meeting to vote on the $160-an-hour rate, but the measure failed to pass.
The Board of Selectmen approved the compromise measure — with the lower pay level for the past six months — earlier this month.
The document below, distributed by Roy, compares rates paid to area town attorneys. Article continues after document.
Opposition
Leonard Greene Jr., who voted against the original measure in April and newly-seated member Michelle Walsh, both opposed the change.
“I just have a hard time approving an increase in the hourly rate when town employees and teachers are taking zeroes and furlough days,” Walsh said.
Greene cited budgetary concerns.
“The way I look at it, voters approved a budget with $125 per hour,” he said. “And, by increasing the rate midway through the year, we limit the number of hours available, and if we come in under budget for the year, we come in less under budget than we otherwise would have.”
Accumulations
In her first five months on the job — from December through April — Fries accumulated 204.1 hours and was paid $32,655, reflecting the $160 per hour fee.
A $145 per hour fee will bring her compensation down to $29,593. A deal to keep her at $125 per hour would have saved the town an additional $4,000.
The deal comes with no minimum on hours worked, and no promise of health insurance, in contrast to the deals in place in several area towns.
“If she doesn’t do any work that month, she doesn’t get paid,” Roy said.
Comparison
The $160 per-hour fee for Fries is in line with that of other Seymour attorneys: Land use attorney Steve Kulas and labor attorneys at Oxford-based Welch, Teodosio, Stanek and Blake all receive $160 per hour.
Before the fees were standardized by selectmen last December, labor and land use attorneys had received average fees topping $185 per hour, while Temple had received $125.
A difference in billing practices, however, may make the difference less noticeable, especially in smaller matters, Roy said.
Temple billed $125 per hour, in 15-minute increments.
Fries bills in six-minute increments.
This means a 10-minute phone call to Temple would cost the town $31.25, and the same 10-minute call to Fries would cost $32 at $160 per hour.
“We had all these charges, a quarter-hour, a quarter-hour, a quarter-hour,” Roy said. “The billing rate she is using brings her into the same line, the same amount of money, that the former town counsel was using.”
After listening to Roy, board member Kristen Harmeling put it more simply:
“It’s a wash,” she told members before the vote.
Chairman Mark Thompson was happy to see a fee that was middle-of-the-road compared to other towns.
“You get what you pay for. If you want a lawyer who will put in the time to do the research, you have to pay for it.”