Denton Mayor Perry McNeill is calling for a review of the city’s financial checkpoints following news that its staff attorneys authorized thousands of dollars in legal bills without the City Council’s approval.

Perry McNeill

McNeill is asking a council committee to meet with City Attorney Ed Snyder to review the city’s procedures for paying outside attorneys.

The review comes after the Denton Record-Chronicle reported March 16 that the city’s payments to an outside legal firm in a federal lawsuit far exceeded caps in the firm’s contract. Council members approved the payments retroactively last month.

“That [newspaper report] prompted a number of questions in my mind,” McNeill said. “So after I had some citizens call me, I thought we really ought to have a discussion about what kind of procedures do we have, what are the checkpoints?”

McNeill’s request came in a March 18 memo to Jack Thomson, chairman of the Council Appointee Performance Review Committee.

Snyder, a council appointee, said he was aware of the mayor’s request.

“They just wanted to make sure that we took a look at the procedures for the paying of outside attorneys,” Snyder said.

Denton businessman Bob Clifton sued the city in 2006, claiming officials violated his constitutional rights by kicking him out of City Hall after loudly arguing with an assistant city manager. A federal district judge dismissed the suit last September; Clifton is appealing.

The city’s contract with Dallas law firm Figari & Davenport capped payments in the case at $35,000. A contract amendment increased the cap to $75,000 after costs rose beyond the original limit.

Invoices show the firm’s billable costs surpassed $75,000 in June, but the city’s legal department did not seek a second contract amendment until February.

By that time, bills had exceeded $190,000.

Deputy City Attorney Jerry Drake, who approved the invoices for payment, has described the caps as nonbinding.

“It’s not a limitation on authority; it’s an estimate that we use to keep tabs on things,” Drake said earlier this month. “It’s not anything that you ring the fire alarm and say, ‘Oh my god, we have to amend it immediately’” when expenses go above the cap.

LOWELL BROWN can be reached at 940-566-6882. His e-mail address is lmbrown@dentonrc.com .