The city of Denver will pay $104,625 to settle a federal lawsuit from a former assistant city attorney who was fired for seeking court costs after fighting a property-tax assessment in Jefferson County.
Mark Gerganoff won his tax fight and had the property assessment on his home lowered from $500,430 to $485,000. But he ran afoul of his employer, the Denver City Attorney’s Office, after he filed an appeal seeking attorney’s fees and $962.50 in witness fees from the Colorado Board of Assessment Appeals.
The city attorney’s office maintained that seeking such costs would have an adverse impact on the city of Denver and posed a conflict of interest for Gerganoff, who handled tax-appeal cases in Denver.
And awarding such costs would set a precedent Denver would have to follow, the city said.
Gerganoff offered to drop his appeal to keep his job, but the city fired him in December 2008 from his probationary and at-will post, which paid $99,857 annually.
The Denver City Council on Monday night approved the settlement in the lawsuit challenging Gerganoff’s firing by the city.
City Attorney David Fine said the firing was done with the advice of outside legal counsel.
“We believe we handled the matter appropriately,” Fine said. “But given the costs and uncertainty of litigation, we believed it was in the best interest to resolve the matter now.”
Gerganoff’s attorney, William Finger, did not immediately return telephone messages seeking comment.
“These are legitimate activities that any taxpayer and citizen may pursue,” Gerganoff said in court documents in which he contends his firing was unconstitutional.
He declined to comment on the settlement.
Gerganoff did win a victory of sorts before the court of appeals, which ruled that court costs in tax-appeal cases are justified. The court in September remanded his case back to the state Board of Assessment Appeals to determine the proper witness fees he should receive in connection with his tax case.
Since then, Jefferson County has appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court on the court-cost issue, and a decision is pending. The state legislature approved a bill this year that bars parties from seeking court costs in tax-appeal cases.
Christopher N. Osher: 303-954-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com
