Comparing apples to apples shows that Costa Mesa has saved millions by contracting out its legal services. In the last five years, the city spent $4.7 million, as opposed to $7.5 million the five years before, when it employed in-house attorneys.

The city is pointing to this contracted service as an example of the kind of cost savings it hopes to secure from the recent proposal to outsource a majority of the city’s services.

By the end of the summer, the expected savings should be quantified as a series of Requests for Proposal are returned and evaluated.

From the Daily Pilot:

The city has saved millions of dollars since contracting out its city attorney duties to the Jones and Mayer law firm in the 2004-05 fiscal year, data released by city shows.

In the five years since Jones and Mayer was hired, Costa Mesa has paid about $4.7 million for legal representation. In the five years before, the city paid more than $7.5 million for its own in-house attorney, records show.

The annual savings averaged about $550,000 though costs fluctuated year to year by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Read the full article here.