I paid my taxes this week, along with millions of Californians, who believe their tax dollars are invested in important government services such as transportation, education, public safety and health. But, alas, too many of our taxpayer dollars instead are spent paying out settlements on unwarranted lawsuits against our city and county governments.

According to a recent report from CALA,  the litigation costs for only eight California cities and nine counties totaled more than $500 million in two fiscal years. As we pay our share of the tax burden, let me point out that every man, woman and child pays an additional $808 per year in a lawsuit tax. Much of this money is wasted on paying out settlements on unwarranted litigation which clogs our courts.

To put the issues in sharper focus, in just two years alone, Los Angeles County spent nearly $190 million on litigation. When LA City Attorney Carmen Trutanich took over his new position, Los Angeles had spent more than $137 million on verdicts, settlements and outside counsel in the past two fiscal years. Now, to get these costs under control, the county and the city are getting more involved in cases that come before their agency, sorting out legitimate cases from those that lack merit. As a result, the county has seen its legal costs drop from a record high of $114 million to $105 million in the last fiscal year alone. Legal settlements were reduced from $40 million to $27 million over the same period. Trutanich now personally reviews every case, defends more cases with in-house counsel, negotiates lower fees from outside counsel, and encourages arbitration, thus saving taxpayer dollars.

Our local governments are taking action to use our local tax dollars as wisely as possible by taking action against lawsuit abuse. Now, it’s time for our state leaders to follow suit and pass legal reforms.