The Allegheny County Council approved just over $8,000 in legal fees Tuesday to defend its minimum wage increase law — one that the legislative body passed in June and that County Executive Rich Fitzgerald vetoed, and then filed a lawsuit against.

Council Members voted 13-2 to approve the funds. Council Members Nicholas Futules and DeWitt Walton were opposed. Neither offered reasons why during Tuesday’s meeting.

Council Members approved the funds — three invoices totaling $8,070.50 to Frank, Gale, Bails & Procrass, P.C., a law firm Downtown — as it defends the minimum wage law against Mr. Fitzgerald’s suit.

After Mr. Fitzgerald’s veto, the council overrode it by a 10-5 margin — just enough votes per the county charter. Mr. Fitzgerald has argued the law is in violation of the charter and the separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches, points he further explained in his legal challenge.

Mr. Fitzgerald said that he agrees that county employees should be paid a higher minimum wage, but that legislation was an improper and illegal way to do so.

The lawsuit is in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, and the case could drag on for weeks, if not months. Under the new law, the minimum wage for all county employees is scheduled to jump to $18 an hour in 2024, $19 in 2025 and $20 in 2026.

First Published: September 12, 2023, 9:58 p.m.
Updated: September 13, 2023, 1:34 a.m.