Reaching the one year mark, the disagreements between the neighboring cities of Teague and Fairfield first began in April 2018 when Teague started to investigate the execution of the Interlocal Definitive Agreement and Facilities Agreement signed between the two cities and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Boyd Unit in 1990 and 1992 respectively.
In September 2018, Teague filed suit against Fairfield citing breach of contract and multiple violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act. Fairfield claimed sovereign immunity, and petitioned the court to dismiss the case.
Now six months into litigation, with most of Teague’s claims against Fairfield dismissed and the TOMA violations severed to a separate civil case, The “Times” examines the cost of the ongoing suits.
To date, the City of Teague reports spending a total of $85,049.87 on the lawsuit from April 2018 through March 2019 on attorneys and associated court costs, an amount that far exceeds the $20,000 budgeted for the city’s legal fees.
This total also includes the cost of an engineer’s study conducted by Teague’s engineering firm, TRC Engineering, Inc. of the Boyd Unit facilities. The $17,500 for the study was taken from the city’s fund reserve account. The study was proposed by City Administrator/Secretary Theresa Prasil as a critical step in Teague’s suit against Fairfield, and unanimously approved by Teague’s City Council in October 2018 and completed in January 2019.
In the same timeframe, the City of Fairfield reports accruing a total of $142,709.73 in attorneys’ fees and court costs, much more than the $40,000 budgeted for legal services.
Putting that into perspective, the money spent on the suit by the City of Teague could pay for one hundred feet of water and sewer lines, based on the cost reported during Teague’s town hall meeting earlier this year.
In Fairfield, it could have funded necessary repairs for approximately four city streets, according to the prices reflected on the Council’s list of completed and ongoing street projects.
Both parties are requesting court costs be awarded to the prevailing city, pending the outcome of the breach of contract suit in the 87th District Court of Judge Patrick Simmons.
Subsequently, on March 26th, Fairfield’s City Council voted to amend their budget to allow for an additional $130,325 in debt service funds to pay off the bond linking the two cities and the Boyd Unit. With the allocation of those funds, Fairfield seeks to pay off the bond earlier than the 2020 completion date to facilitate the end of the lawsuit and the excessive costs associated.
On Monday, April 15th, Teague Council unanimously approved the motion to designate $100,000 from the city’s fund reserve account to establish additional funds for the TDCJ IDA account, which currently reflects $40,000 in the city’s current budget.
With more motions filed and the first hearing in the TOMA case set for April 24th, the costs will likely continue to rise before a conclusion is reached.
