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December
1999 Newsletter
Region's
Court Costs Climbing
A
report presented to Regional Council on December 7 revealed
that their court challenge of the federal assessment is
going to cost a little more than the $75,000 to $100,000
predicted in July by the region's lawyer, David Estrin.
Indeed, $207,000 had been paid out by the beginning of August.
Since then: "Amounts incurred and unbilled to date are $311,416.50
plus GST for legal fees and $125,243.51 plus GST for disbursements".
Disbursements
includes payment to lobbyists, a curious addition to a "legal"
case. The report also estimates another $485,750 will be
spent on the court proceedings. This $1.2 million bill is
now larger than the total annual budget of the Region's
legal services department. While outrageous, it is certainly
going to get bigger. Three days after council approved this
bill, a court decision rejected most of the region's legal
challenge as beyond statutory time limits, a decision that
the Region is expected to appeal.
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