Taxpayers in Niagara Falls paid out more than first thought for an investigation into a dispute between a veteran councillor and the city's top bureaucrat.
Toronto Law firm Sherrard Kuzz billed the city in total for the investigation conducted by Lisa Bolton from the Toronto firm $53,390.31 for contract and consulting services provided between July and October of this year.
The city held a special meeting back in September to release the bill to the public, but back then the price tag listed only the consulting fee of $45,839.58.
Tonight's council agenda shows an additional $21,688.66 was paid to the firm that investigated the complaint. $11,388 of that directly related to the investigation conducted by Lisa Bolton for Sherrard Kuzz.
The incident between Councillor Carolynn Ioannoni and CAO Ken Todd occurred June 14th during a discussion about the city’s partnership with Ryerson University to try and bring a post-secondary presence to downtown Niagara Falls.
That issue is also at the core of another report on tonight's agenda by Ontario's Ombudsman's office that found council held an illegal meeting by discussing possible funding for the University behind closed doors.
City Finance Director Todd Harrison confirms the city has used the same law firm for other HR related matters. In total the Toronto Law Firm has billed the city for contract and consulting work from June to October totaling $64,831.16.