HomeMy WebLinkAboutFY 2021 Budget Presentation (Office of the County Attorney)OFFICE OF THE COUNTY ATTORNEY
THE COUNTY OF KAUA'I
DEREK S. K. KAWAKAMI, MAYOR
MICHAEL A. DAHILIG, MANAGI N G DIRECTOR
FY 2021 BUDGET AND OPERATIONS SYNOPSIS
1 . FY 2020 to FY 2021 BUDGET COMPARSION
FY 2020 FY 2021 $+I-
Salary and Wages
Benefits
1,6 11 ,341 1,674,259 62,918
Utilities
Vehicle /Equip, Lea se
Operations
894,800 953,846 59,046
4 ,0 00 4,035 35
0 0 0
527,487 736,088 208,601
3,037 ,628 3,368,228 330,600
FY 2020 Operating Budget
•Salary and Wages
•Benefits
•Utilit ies
Vehicle/Equip ,
Lease
•Operation s
FY 2021 Operating Budget
www.ka ua i.gov
•Salary and Wages
•Benefits
•Utilities
Vehicle/Equip,
Lease
•Operatio ns
MATTHEW M. BRACKEN
COUNTY ATTORNEY
NICHOLAS R . COURSON
FIRST DEPUTY
%+/-
3.9%
6.6%
0.9%
0.0%
39.5%
10.9%
4444 Ri ce Stree t Suite 220 • Lihu 'e, H awa i'i 96766 • (808) 241-4930 (b) • (808) 241-6 319 (f)
An Equal Oppo rtunity Employ er
' FY2021 Budget and Operations Synopsis
Office of t h e County Attorney
FY 2020 and FY 2021 Comparison
1,800,000
1,600,000
1 ,400,000
1,200,000
1,000,000
800,000
600,00 0
400,000
200,000
0
----
-
-
.·.
+; , .....
,Y;.
,,~:
ii
·.~
.o:: "' :.~:.:
--
I
--:". '•,
'ii•
-~.
c.:·,J
~
'.::r
-
-
-
-
Salary and
Wages
Benefits Utilities Vehicle/Equ ip, Operations
Lease
2. MAJOR CHANGES AND/OR VARIANCES IN OPERATIONS BUDGET
Significant increases:
'
FY 2020
DFY 2021
1) 001-0301-513 .31-00 Dues and Subscriptions. The $50,000 increase is for county contract
automation for all departments to utilize. The contract automation interface w ill allow our
clients to answer simple non-legalese questions, which will then popu late and build custom
contracts. It should reduce the time our clients spe nd preparing contracts and reduce
attorney review time . The Purchasing Di v ision also supports this initiative, as it wi ll have
broad i mplications . To complete a ll the sta ndard contracts it w ill cost an estimated $50,000 .
This is a one-time non-recurring expense .
2) 001-0301-513.32-01 Special Counsel. $210,000 increase. In our current fiscal year we
expended most of our funds as of 12/2/2019 due several specia l counsel contracts. Some of
these cases wil l remain with spec ial counsel due to conflicts in our office and attorney
shortages . With severa l new litigation attorneys we hope to work wit h spec ial counsel to
help train the newer attorneys and reduce overall costs.
3. OPERATIONAL CHAL LE NGES
Lit igatio n Cost is a line item that is largely d ictated by activities of County personnel.
Deposition transcripts are expensive and can cost between $5,000 and $7,500 depending on
the length of the deposition . Mu ltiple deposition are generally taken in every li tigation case.
FY2021 Budget and Operations Synopsis
Office of the County Attorney
When expert witnesses are needed, these contracts range between $10,000 and $30,000.
Expert witnesses generally charge between $350 and $750 dollars an hour with additional
expenses for testifying at trial. Our office currently has 101 active litigation cases (cases on
appeal or where significant work is not occurring are not considered active).
The County receives numerous new lawsuits each month and costs vary year ly . Our office
hopes to start pushing real property tax foreclosures this upcoming fiscal year.
Attorney staffing shortages continue to present an operation challenge but we are happy to
welcome three attorneys to our office: Jenna Tat sey, Chris Donahoe, and Teresa Tumbaga.
4. TOP 3 OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS FROM FY 2020
1) We continued to provide legal services to the County w ith 5 attorney vacancies .
2) Attorney pre-approved form contracts for frequently executed contracts such as :
• Housing Purchase and Sale Agreements
• Office of Economic Development Grant Applications
• Human Resources 89 day contracts
• Police Overtime and Off Duty contracts
3) We scaled back our collection efforts due to our attorney shortage but still managed to
collect over $500,000 in delinquent accounts receivables.