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While Hall County residents are concerned about the $6.44 account service fee on their water bill (a legitimate concern which is being addressed), we might want to look at the astronomically high fees we are paying for engineering and attorney work.
Last month a new county attorney was hired for $395 an hour. Do the math: 40 hours a week times 52 weeks is equivalent to $821,600 per year. That is more than double what the president of the U.S. makes.
The law associates are paid $210-$290 an hour. That is equivalent to $436,800 to $603,200 per year. That is three to four times what Gov. Nathan Deal makes and three to four times what our top legal advisor, the attorney general of Georgia, makes.
While some of our residents are homeless and have no roofs over their heads (see Times article on Feb. 7) and many are out of jobs, we are paying these attorneys, their associates and engineers extremely high fees so they can live in mansions. Many don't live in Hall County, don't pay taxes here and spend their income elsewhere.
We as Hall county citizens should scrutinize our county budget regularly and ask serious questions about how our taxes are being spent. Some expenditures are way out of line right now, and we are paying for them.
Bill Morrison
Gainesville