A judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed against Androscoggin County’s seven commissioners by 12 of the 14 communities they represent.

The complaint, filed in Superior Court, alleges that the commissioners improperly set their own salaries and benefits in violation of the county charter. The complaint also says the commissioners approved their own budget, a violation of state law.

“What we’d really like to do is sit down with the commissioners and settle this case by hammering out some type of compromise,” said Lewiston Attorney Peter Brann, who is representing the communities.

Commissioners approved their own salaries and the county budget – without input from the Androscoggin Budget Committee – in late 2014. That led the communities, including Lewiston and Auburn, to file a civil action in July 2015.

The suit has been making its way through the courts since then. Superior Court Justice Lance Walker ruled against the commissioners’ motion to dismiss the suit on March 18. The ruling also says the towns will not be allowed to collect monetary damages, but Brann said they were never seeking such damages.

“We are pleased that the Superior Court agreed with the municipalities that each of their claims have sufficient merit to proceed,” said Emily Darby of Minot, chairwoman of the Budget Committee, in a news release. “The municipalities were not seeking tort claim damages from the commissioners, so the court ruled in favor of the municipalities on all of the issues they care about.”

Historically, the county’s Budget Committee, which consists of municipal officials, has voted on whether to approve commissioners’ salaries and benefits. Androscoggin County voters approved a new county charter in 2012, but it made no changes to the salary-setting process.

But at the commissioners’s request, the Legislature in 2013, “with little, if any, notice to the voters and taxpayers who approved the charter,” approved a legislative resolve allowing a charter amendment that gave commissioners the authority to set their own salaries, according to court documents. Gov. Paul LePage signed the resolve.

 

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