The Little Rock School District budgeted and spent the following on legal fees over the past five years:
- 2010-11: Budget $550,000, Actual $655,037 (+$105,037)
- 2011-12: Budget $660,000, Actual $884,563 (+$224,563)
- 2012-13: Budget $870,000, Actual $774,757 (-$95,243)
- 2013-14: Budget $780,000, Actual $920,871 (+$140,871)
- 2014-15: Budget $850,000, Actual TBD
The LRSD’s legal budget has increased 55% in five years, while expenses have exceeded budget by $375,228.
See the pattern? Overspend your publicly-funded budget, increase your subsequent year’s budget by a comparable percentage. Nice work if you can keep it.
When contracted, bill-by-the-hour attorneys have carte blanche to do whatever they want whenever they want, particularly when the issue(s) is/are not legal in nature, taxpayer dollars are being squandered.
The City of Little Rock, with a budget 60% that of the district, hires its own salaried attorney. Perhaps the district would be better and more efficiently served with a similar arrangement.