It’s the lawyers who make off with the cash in flooding lawsuit

When you get stuck with paying an extra $140 to $180 in property taxes this December, you can thank your neighbor.

There are several hundred of them, actually, that you can thank.

That’s because they were part of one of two lawsuits filed against the city after their basements flooded three years ago, and then again last spring.

At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, the council agreed to settle the two lawsuits for $1.6 million. To pay for the settlement, a judge will have to order a special tax on the property tax rolls.

In total, homeowners will be socked with an additional 8 mills.

It’s going to be a frustrating irony for many of those who are a part of the lawsuit. According to City Attorney James Allen, modt of the plaintiffs will receive a small lump sum that will be equal to what they, too, will be forced to pay in additional taxes.

The people who will make the most money in this case are the lawyers representing the plaintiffs. Again, according to Allen, the attorneys will take home one third of the settlement and also get reimbursed for their costs.

Allen figures that will be around $600,000.

The next time you get a phone call from an attorney fishing for clients to join a class action suit, it might be better to just hang up. In the end, we all pay, and it’s the lawyers who get to laugh all the way to the bank.