Several weeks ago The Times received a letter to the editor with questions about the town’s legal services budget and whether the town was getting the best service for its budget.

The letter also seemed to question the competency of Town Attorney Andrew McGuire. A quick check at that time regarding some of the points of the letter revealed that while McGuire is designated as Town Attorney, he does not work for the Town of Fountain Hills.

McGuire is employed by the firm of Gust Rosenfeld, which the town has a “letter of engagement” with.

Gust Rosenfeld has been an Arizona law firm since 1921.

In way of background on McGuire, he has a bachelor’s degree in urban planning from Arizona State University (92), and received his JD from Gonzaga University School of Law in 1995. He was admitted to the Arizona Bar in 1995. He has worked on and off with the Town of Fountain Hills for most of his 20 years in legal practice. He was an associate of the town’s first attorney, Bill Farrell.

To get a look at how billing is done and services required, The Times made a public records request for the legal billing to the town for the first quarter of the current fiscal year, July through September 2015.

The billing reveals that as many as 12 different attorneys, including McGuire, did legal work for the town during that quarter.

The town paid for 368.3 hours of service over those three months, totaling $69,176.30. That is an average rate of $187.83 per hour.

McGuire billed the town for a total of 165.5 hours, a little less than half the total hours for the firm. At McGuire’s rate of $240 per hour, his total was $39,720.

The billing shows the town received legal services in 11 different categories which include general representation, intergovernmental agreements, risk management, contract review, planning and zoning, Town Center, Adero Canyon, Chaparral City Water Company (EPCOR), capital improvement projects, liens and audit letters.

According to the billing McGuire did almost no work in the risk management area. He billed .40 hours of a total 24.5 hours. McGuire was also not involved in the 5.1 hours devoted to the water company rate case.

For the quarter the town paid $22,384.40 for July; $22,759.50 in August; and $24,032.40 for the September billing.

Extended over four quarters the total should range from $275,000 to $300,000 for the year.

Town Manager Grady Miller told The Times he has a fairly strict policy for controlling legal expenses. Staff members must receive his approval before talking with legal staff about any matter.

The process for making changes to legal services would involve the town advertising requests for proposals or qualifications, with staff negotiating for an agreement with one of the parties and final council approval. That would normally happen prior to budget planning for a new fiscal year.