Government has dropped its case for an injunction to block Corporation of Hamilton councillors from getting paid roughly $55,000 for attending more than a year’s worth of meetings.

The Government opted to discontinue its case with the leave of the Supreme Court — allowing retroactive payments up until October 15 to go ahead.

However, the Corporation has agreed going forward that payments after that date will abide by the terms laid down in the Municipalities Amendment Act.

As previously reported by The Royal Gazette, members of the council agreed they would be paid $375 for board meetings and $175 for attending committee meetings.

The payments, which go back to Team Hamilton’s election in May of last year, add up to $55,000, according to Mayor Graeme Outerbridge.

Presiding over yesterday’s matter was Puisne Judge Stephen Hellman, who told Corporation lawyer Eugene Johnston he had won the application case “without a shot being fired”.

The Corporation still intends to proceed with a legal challenge to the Act itself, however, which as of October 15 confines payments to $50 per meeting.

According to Mr Johnston, the provision to limit the Corporation’s use of its own monies was unconstitutional and “an infringement of the Corporation’s right to manage its affairs as it deems fit”.

“If Government provides any grant to the Corporation of Hamilton, it can specify how those monies are to be used. What the Corporation of Hamilton does with its own finances is a different state of affairs.”

Following the hearing, Home Affairs Minister Michael Fahy said that the injunction, which was filed on Tuesday, had to be withdrawn because the payments had been processed by the time the matter came to court yesterday.

But he advised that Government was now considering applying for a judicial review into the matter.