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ity of <br /> <br />E <br /> <br />iver <br /> <br />MEMORANDUM <br /> <br />Item # 6.6. <br /> <br />TO: <br /> <br />Mayor & City Council <br /> <br />FROM: Pat Klaers, City Administrator <br /> <br />DATE: <br /> <br />April 28, 1997 <br /> <br />SUBJECT: City Attorney Fees <br /> <br />Last year the fee structure for the city attorney was changed by the City <br />Council. In March, 1997, this fee structure issue was reviewed and the topic <br />was continued to this meeting. <br /> <br />As previously discussed, any variation of the rate structure can work for the <br />city attorney. Peter's goal, which he is not achieving, is to reach 70 percent of <br />his normal hourly rate. The two extremes that have been used for city <br />attorney fees have been a city discounted rate of $110 per hour and a <br />developer rate of $180 per hour versus a $135 per hour rate across the board. <br />It is recommended that the city find a compromise and be charged $120 per <br />hour and have the developers charged at a $150 per hour rate. In this <br />manner the city receives a preferred client discount of 25 percent. Based on <br />1996 actual hours, the city would save about $4,200 if charged at a $120 per <br />hour rate versus the $135 per hour rate. On the other hand, the developers <br />would have paid about $3,200 more if charged at a $150 per hour rate versus <br />a $135 per hour rate. <br /> <br />It should be noted that the rate of $110, $120 or $135 affects only a few <br />attorneys at Doherty Rumble & Butler and that a good deal of the legal <br />services that we receive are from other attorneys under the supervision of <br />Dean Bussey, Peter Beck, and Dave Sellergren. These other attorneys have <br />rates between $85 and $110 per hour. Additionally, when we consider the <br />retainer arrangement of $2,500 per month versus the actual hours Peter puts <br />into this retainer arrangement and the rate that he typically receives, it <br />turns out that we receive services from Peter at a rate of much less than $75 <br />per hour. When this retainer rate and hours worked is factored into the total <br />fees that the city pays for all legal services based on hours spent, it means <br />that the city pays less than $100 per hour for all legal services even when <br />using the higher $135 rate. Finally, it should be noted that in response to <br />past comments and concerns, the city and the city attorney have taken steps <br />to reduce the legal time that is spent on "standard" development projects. We <br /> <br />13065 Orono Parkway · P.O. Box 490 · Elk River, MN 55330 · (612) 441-7420 · Fax: (612) 441-7425 <br /> <br /> <br />