Wauconda gives lawyer a raise
Starting this month, Wauconda officials will pay a little more for legal services.
Village trustees on Tuesday unanimously agreed to a 2-percent rate increase for attorney Rudy Magna. Magna had requested the fee increase in a letter last month, citing rising business costs.
Magna has had a busy year in Wauconda. He's worked on the village's ongoing effort to get drinking water from Lake Michigan, personnel changes in the police department and at village hall, the creation of a special taxing district on the village's west side and other big issues.
He's also worked with a new mayor, Frank Bart.
"He's done a lot for us," Trustee Lincoln Knight told the Daily Herald before the evening's meeting at village hall.
The new rates are retroactively effective May 1. Under the terms, Magna will charge:
• $216 per hour for general services
• $261 per hour for developer-related issues
• A flat fee of $6,215 for prosecution work
Trustee Ken Arnswald called the 2-percent fee increase "reasonable."
Magna's office billed the village $244,960 in the 2014 fiscal year, which recently ended, Village Administrator Doug Maxeiner said.
He billed the village $202,030 during the 2013 fiscal year and $206,585 during the 2012 fiscal year, Maxeiner said.