Adelaide Hills Council’s legal fees increased by $80,047 over the past 12 months to the new expenditure of $327,710.
The increase came as the council dealt with an unexpected $4.8 million budget black hole and the turnover of a quarter of its staff.
Council CEO Greg Georgopoulos said the rise was “primarily a result of unexpected events, often of a confidential and complex nature.”
“The increase in legal fees is not due to any one matter but is a combination of multiple unexpected events… Many of these matters have arisen in the governance portfolio,” he added.
Mr Georgopoulos denied the council’s staff turnover was responsible after 49 staff members left last financial year.
“Generally, when staff leave an organisation, legal fees are not incurred,” he said. “As such, the current legal fees are not associated with staff departures.”
He also claimed the increase in legal expenses was not “directly” linked to another internal council controversy, in which Mayor Jan-Claire Wisdom was stripped of powers amid a confidential report into her use of a policy to obtain legal advice.
Source: The Advertiser.
