How marvelously emblematic of Rhode Island’s operation:

The court-appointed law firm that oversaw the insolvent [Central Falls’] finances from May to July has advised the state the bill for its two months of work and other related services will be about $306,400, state official said. …
Because Savage performed his services before the state took control on July 16, [Amy] Kempe said the bills will have to be paid.

It’s almost as if this is a deliberate move intended to make the state-appointed receiver’s compensation look reasonable. In summary, the Rhode Island judiciary appointed a specific person to take over the town’s finances, and that person was permitted to give a cost range of $100 to $375 per hour and then hit the subsequent receiver with a surprise bill for a third of a million dollars for about three months of work.
What I find most astonishing is Kempe’s statement that the state will just have to pay the bill because, “we have no say.” So, with state-appointed receiver Mark Pfeiffer empowered, essentially, to bump every elected official out of Central Falls, a post-facto bill from a previous state appointee is absolutely binding? Talk about an insiders’ game. I wonder whether they all joke about these matters when they bump into each other at the café at the club.