The Hidden Cost

As you have read on this blog, and others, about the spending and budget problems facing Cumberland County and Millville these days.
I am still waiting to see if cuts in the hiring of consultants and lawyers can be made. The spending seems to pop up everywhere in boring resolutions passed routinely at County and local meetings. Why??? Local govts do not want to hire permanent full-time employees that would force them to pay full benefits and pensions (Like what Mr. Kavenagh ALMOST got!) The regular staff have credentials and degrees that are general (municipal engineer does not have the expertise in structural engineering) and manpower. Here is an example in Millville NJ concerning a noise expert the city hired.
I was informed that the $1,800 spent was in the budget. The consultant is an expert in noise created by racetracks. With the pending lawsuit by TrackRacket, the city wanted to make sure that they had a third party evaluate their data. In other words this was "extra protection" from the TrackRacket lawsuit This lawsuit will cost more than the consultant I have not heard that the lawsuit by TrackRacket has been officially served. With a potential $2 million shortfall in the budget, Millville City Government will have to continue to find areas that lead to large reductions. The City Commission made a good start with changing health care providers that saved about 1.5 million from the budget.
The biggest cost is legal (aka Lawyers) . Millville, I believe has dozens of lawsuits that cost the taxpayers hundreds of thousands dollars every year An example is the Porecca case. I has cost over $70K when it was all done and that does not include the hours of depositions that pulled city employees away from doing their job. It seems that there are police lawsuits every year that drag out. I guess why Republicans cry "Tort Reform"!! We evaluate each potential consultant before we hire them.
At least Millville has developers cover the cost of the consultants when it comes to plan review on projects. More of this creative governing needs to be done and done soon or basic services that most of us expect from our tax dollars (Police, Fire, etc) will suffer while the lawyers prosper. Most lawyers work for more then one local govt. Where in the County budget can a Joe average person find this spending?