When most people think about where their tax dollars go, they think of schools, parks, public safety and other social service programs. It never occurs to them that some of their hard-earned dollars are paying litigation costs. This is because most of the time the cases against cities, counties and the state are dealt with behind closed doors, shielded from public scrutiny.
In 2007 California CALA shed a little light on these hidden expenses and found that just three cities and four counties in California paid more than $276 million in verdicts, settlements and outside counsel in just two fiscal years. These costs did not even include litigation against school districts.
CALA just released a new report and the findings are staggering. CALA looked at verdicts, settlements and outside counsel for the counties of Alameda, Fresno, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange , Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco and Santa Clara and the cities of Anaheim, Bakersfield, Fresno, Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego and San Jose. Of these nine counties and eight cities more than $500 million dollars was spent to deal with litigation. Half a billion dollars! And we have 480 cities and 58 counties in the state. The total cost to our cities and counties would be mind-boggling.
Los Angeles County spent $190 million in verdicts, settlements and outside counsel and the City of Los Angeles spent $136.9 million. The money spent by the city in just one year could have paid for the starting base salaries for 1,271 police officers. How’s that for an economic stimulus?
All over this state cities and counties are getting ravaged by the economy. Services are being cut from public safety to education and other social service programs. Budget shortfalls do not just affect people who lose their jobs or services they rely on, the effects ripple to the entire community and beyond. Taxpayers are seeing their local and county governments cut programs and increase fees at the same time a bunch of plaintiffs’ lawyers are feeding at the public trough.
While some counties and cities have been aggressive in fighting back, more needs to be done. That is why CALA is calling for greater disclosure, more public oversight, and the adoption of aggressive risk management procedures to protect our public coffers. The days of public entities being viewed as deep pockets need to end.
As citizens around the state close in on property tax and income tax season, it might be time to reflect on what litigation is costing them in their own communities.