Town Manager discusses in-house counsel versus law firm on retainer

By Valerie Cury

The Purcellville Town Council voted to approve the tax rate of $0.20.5/$100 which is one half cent less than what Interim Town Manager John Anzivino requested.

Last year’s rate was $0.21/$100, and the equalized rate for Fiscal Year 2024 is $0.19.16/$100 due to real estate assessments increasing 9 percent.

The Town Manager’s proposed FY24 Budget is $28,195,082, which is an increase of 18.2 percent from the FY23 Adopted Budget of $23,861,174.

At the March 29 Town Council special meeting concerning a section of the FY24 proposed budget, the council discussed legal, public works and part of the Town’s fleet – trucks and equipment.

In May 2012, the Town of Purcellville decided to hire an in-house attorney on staff full-time. Before Sally Hankins resigned her employment with the Town to work for the City of Falls Church, she had an annual salary of nearly $200,000 – not including benefits. With other legal firms hired to work on various projects and an additional part-time attorney on staff, the total legal budget came to well over $400,000. 

The FY24 proposed budget for in-house legal is $427,550, “which is considerable,” said Anzivino.

During Hankins’ tenure as attorney for the Town, Vineyard Square,  a 6-story project with retail space plus 40 condos on 21^st Street, was approved in the C-4 District – even though multi-family use is not allowed in this district. Neither a Comprehensive Plan Amendment nor a Zoning Amendment, which would have been necessary to add a use which is not allowed, was requested by the Town. 

Most towns the size of Purcellville and even those much larger do not have full-time attorneys. Anzivino said the Town Council needs to decide whether to continue with a full-time attorney or have an attorney on retainer with a wider range of vocations coming from contracted services, “at equal to or less cost.”

“If you make this transition,” said Anzivino, “in speaking to several attorneys that provide this type of service, there’s a new level of discipline which has to be exercised internally by staff … but they can read the code – if the code is black and white – as what you can or can not do. You don’t have to consult an attorney. 

“Sometimes it’s been pointed out to me that when you do have in-house counsel, it’s much easier to walk over to the office of the in-house counsel … and ask, ‘Can I do this?’ as opposed to doing your own research and maybe doing a little work on your own.”

Anzivino said that the Town of Vienna is a larger community than Purcellville – over 16,000 population. Warrenton is a little bit larger but they have a more complex operation because “they have a more vibrant extensive operational function and they provide a lot of out of town utilities” – and both are going back to “out of house counsel.”

Council Member Ron Rise Jr. explained that with out of house counsel “you get an entire firm” – so if there’s a specialty that a locality needs to focus on, they have the benefit of the whole firm, which would be an advantage.

Mayor Stan Milan pointed out that there would be no overhead costs to the Town, and no employee benefits with a firm on retainer. 

The Public Works part of the discussion covered the $3,235,000 budget, which represents 24 percent of the General Fund. Part of that total – 10 percent of the General Fund, to be exact – encompasses pay and benefits of $1,447,000. This fund also covers Town and State streets, trash collection and upkeep of various facilities, as well as part of the Town’s fleet.