From 2005 to Sept. 21, 2009, Liberty Township has paid $2,075,926 in legal fees to three law firms.

Township fiscal officer Mark Gerber is in the process of determining precisely how much of that money was spent on lawsuits involving Liberty's efforts to stop proposed Walmart and Target stores.

Prior to Gerber's taking office, the township did not separate the legal fees by case or incident. Gerber said he is compiling that breakdown and intends to post it on the township Web site, www.libertytwp.org.

Liberty has been battling the store proposals and related issues in Delaware County Common Pleas Court and federal court.

Gerber said:

• Thompson Hine LLP worked on the Walmart federal lawsuit and from 2007 to Sept. 21, 2009 has received about $855,058.

• Loveland & Brosius works on the Target and Walmart litigation, zoning code issues and the cooperative economic development agreement (CEDA) and breach allegations from Powell. From 2005 to Sept. 21, 2009, the firm has received about $532,380.

• Chester Wilcox & Saxbe works on the Target litigation, serves as counsel for the township's BZA in the Walmart case, regular zoning issues, employee law, land use, road right of way issues, the CEDA breach allegations and advice to trustees on legislation. From 2005 to Sept. 21, 2009, the firm received $688,483 from the township.

Gerber said those numbers don't include payments received from a township insurance policy, which he hopes to itemize.

In federal litigation cases, the insurance covers about 40 percent of the cost, township administrator Dave Anderson has said.

For 2009, Gerber said, the township will spend considerably less in legal fees than anticipated.

At the beginning of the year, the township projected needing $498,000 for legal fees related to expenditures of the zoning department.

Legal fees paid from the zoning budget as of Oct. 31 are $162,200, Gerber said.

He recommended and trustees last week approved transfering $100,000 from the zoning legal fees budget and placing $10,000 in the parks department's operating budget and $90,000 the township's capital improvements fund to pay for the completion of Havener Park.

That completion included placing a two-inch coat of asphalt on the park's driveway and parking lot.

All the transactions are within the general fund, so the overall budget amount remains the same, Gerber said.

The transfers leave the budget for the zoning department legal fees at $398,000 for the year.

Gerber said he doesn't anticipate the legal fees exceeding $300,000 and they "will likely be $250,000."

bbutcher@thisweeknews.com