City Clarifies AT&T Mobility Settlement Funds

In regards to the posting, "Where's my 4.1 Million Dollars, Dude?" I received the following email from Public Information Director Louise Whall a few moments ago:

Jackie:

The fees to the outside counsel were paid to them directly from AT&T and are not part of the $10.22 million settlement. The $10.2 settlement is comprised of three parts:

1. The lump sum
2. The back taxes being held under protest
3. The gross receipts going forward through June 30, 2009

We have received the lump sum check for $6,125,000 and it is applied directly to the Police-Fire Pension Fund.We already have the back taxes being held under protest, which were in an escrow account.We won't finish receiving the third portion until we receive the final gross-receipts payment going through the end of the fiscal year, June 30, 2009.

Those three portions equal the $10.22 million.

I regret that my earlier report was made over the weekend while City offices were closed and unavailable to answer questions, which I did pose to Ms. Whall over the course of the weekend. Based upon available information and with no clear explanation presented in the News-Leader's article over the weekend I based my analysis on the signed, notarized agreement, alone. That agreement stated, in part:

"2. Payments to Springfield. Within ten business days after the receipt of this fully executed Agreement and W-9 tax documentation from Springfield and Lowther Johnson, Attorneys at Law, AT&T Mobility will pay the amount of Ten Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($10,500,000) as follows: six million one hundred twenty five thousand (6,123,000) shall be wire transferred to City of Springfield, 840 Boonville Ave, Springfield MO 65802 and four million three hundred seventy five thousand ($4,375,000) shall be wire transferred to Lowther Johnson, Attorneys at Law, LLC, 901 St. Louis Street, 20th Floor, Springfield MO 65806. AT&T Mobility will provide a Form 1099-MISC to Lowther Johnson with respect to the payment to it. Further, all payments related to the Protest Cases and payments remitted "under protest" for the months of January and February 2009, plus any accrued interest on those amounts currently held by Springfield, shall be released to Springfield upon the entry of the dismissal orders in the Protest Cases as described in paragraph 1 above. The parties acknowledge and agree that no portion of any payment referred to in this Section 2 is in the nature of penalty."