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Item No. 6.
| MEETING DATE: 09/20/2021 |
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| TO: | HONORABLE MAYOR AND COUNCILMEMBERS |
| FROM: | JIM SADRO, CITY MANAGER By: Rob Ferrier, Assistant to the City Manager |
| SUBJECT: | APPROVE AMENDMENT NO. 3 TO THE AGREEMENT FOR CITY ATTORNEY SERVICES WITH THE LAW FIRM OF JONES & MAYER FOR GENERAL LEGAL AND LITIGATION SERVICES
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RECOMMENDATION:
That the City Council approve Amendment No. 3 to the agreement for City Attorney services with the law firm of Jones & Mayer for general legal and litigation services.
DISCUSSION:
The City contracts with the law firm of Jones & Mayer for general legal and litigation services. That contract was last amended in 2018 at the rate of $239.14 per hour for attorney services.
The City Attorney has requested that the City Council consider a 4.5% increase in the firm’s hourly rates. If approved, this would increase the current hourly rate from $239.14 to $250.00 per hour for attorney services. In addition, the City Attorney requests that commencing September 1, 2022, and every year thereafter, the hourly rate be adjusted in an amount based upon the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the Los Angeles area, not to exceed 3% per year.
Staff reviewed the CPI data for the Los Angeles area to evaluate how the requested increase compares to change in CPI for the period from September 2018 to August 2021 and found that the percentage growth in the requested hourly rate is generally consistent with growth in CPI during this period.
The following table details the last seven amendments to the hourly rate paid to Jones & Mayer for attorney services, including the date the adjustment took effect, the dollar amount of the hourly rate, the percentage change from the prior adjustment, and the change in CPI for those same periods. At times, the requested and approved adjustment to the hourly rate was above or below CPI.
The City Attorney has requested that the City Council consider a 4.5% increase in the firm’s hourly rates. If approved, this would increase the current hourly rate from $239.14 to $250.00 per hour for attorney services. In addition, the City Attorney requests that commencing September 1, 2022, and every year thereafter, the hourly rate be adjusted in an amount based upon the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the Los Angeles area, not to exceed 3% per year.
Staff reviewed the CPI data for the Los Angeles area to evaluate how the requested increase compares to change in CPI for the period from September 2018 to August 2021 and found that the percentage growth in the requested hourly rate is generally consistent with growth in CPI during this period.
The following table details the last seven amendments to the hourly rate paid to Jones & Mayer for attorney services, including the date the adjustment took effect, the dollar amount of the hourly rate, the percentage change from the prior adjustment, and the change in CPI for those same periods. At times, the requested and approved adjustment to the hourly rate was above or below CPI.
| EFFECTIVE DATE | HOURLY RATE | PERCENTAGE CHANGE | CPI CHANGE |
| November 20, 2006 | $195.00 | 8.2 percent | 7.2 percent |
| July 1, 2008 | $208.07 | 6.7 percent | 8.7 percent |
| July 1, 2009 | $193.81 | -6.8 percent | -2.3 percent |
| December 1, 2012 | $208.07 | 7.4 percent | 5.4 percent |
| February 1, 2015 | $218.47 | 5.0 percent | 2.2 percent |
| January 1, 2016 | $229.39 | 5.0 percent | 2.4 percent |
| December 1, 2018 | $239.14 | 4.25 percent | 8.4 percent |
| October 1, 2021 (Proposed) |
$250.00 | 4.5 percent | 8.7 percent (CPI data available through July 2021) |
The requested adjustments to the hourly billing rate and the future annual CPI increase commencing in 2022 appear consistent with the average rate of CPI growth for the past five years.
FISCAL IMPACT/SOURCE OF FUNDING:
The City Council last adjusted the City Attorney’s hourly rate in 2018, at which time the hourly rate was increased by 4.25 percent from $229.39 per hour to $239.14 per hour. This proposed amendment will increase the hourly rate for general legal and litigation services by 4.5 percent, from $239.14 per hour to $250.00 per hour. There are sufficient funds in the adopted Fiscal Year 2021-2022 General Fund budget to pay for the increase in the hourly rate.
GENERAL PLAN RELEVANCE:
ED 9.1