A state firefighters union's five-year quest to delve into the operations of the Local Government Center, which provides a wide array of services to cities and towns across the state, has won another victory in court.

Merrimack County Superior Court Justice Philip Mangones ruled this month that the Local Government Center is subject to the state's right-to-know law and must share information about employee salaries requested by the Professional Fire Fighters of New Hampshire. The Local Government Center provides lobbying, legal and insurance services for dozens of towns employing thousands of public workers.

Firefighters Union President David Lang said he's eager to know what happens to the money public employers and employees pay into HealthTrust, the benefits program administered by the Local Government Center. He fears that health insurance administration fees could be used to fund the broader operations of the center.

"There's a lot of health insurance money that goes into that building. We're concerned to know where it actually goes," Lang said. When firefighters sit down to bargain new contracts, they face increasing pressure to pay more for and take less from health insurance. "Where is it going?" Lang said.

According to Lang, the center gets $350,000 worth of dues from cities and towns a year while, court documents say, it carries a payroll of $6.1 million paid to 112 full-time employees. Here's the way he does the math: "So subtract $350,000 from ($6.1) million and where's the rest of that money coming from? That's what we want to know," Lang said.

Officials at the Local Government Center declined to answer questions about the lawsuit. Communications Specialist Lynn Sperl read a statement from Executive Director John Andrews in which he said the center is reviewing the court decision and "may appeal some or all of its findings."

HealthTrust has 105,000 enrollees, including public employees and their dependents, Sperl said.

The firefighters union and the center have often been foes at the State House, where they face off as the representatives of public employers versus public employees, respectively. Last spring, during legislative negotiations over reforms to the New Hampshire Retirement System, the firefighters union led the battle to maintain benefits while the Local Government Center pushed to hold down increases in the bills to cities and towns.

Meanwhile, the court fight over what the center must legally disclose stretches back five years.

In 2003, the firefighters union filed its first right-to-know petition about HealthTrust in Rockingham County Superior Court, seeking meeting minutes and contracts with Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield. The firefighters won, prompting the Local Government Center to appeal to the state Supreme Court. The Supreme Court sided with firefighters, ruling that HealthTrust is, in fact, subject to the right-to-know law.

In that ruling, the high court noted that HealthTrust's members are exclusively cities and towns, that it provides the "essential government function" of insurance to public employees, that it gets money from cities and towns and that it "enjoys the tax-exempt status of public entities."

The Local Government Center responded to that ruling by cracking open some of its books, opening up redacted minutes and responding to some additional inquiries from the firefighters.

But the union asked for more minutes and other information, including information about a Local Government Center retreat, contracts with consultants, information about the center's building, plus salary and benefit data for employees.

The center responded that the salary data are "internal personnel records, according to court papers, not subject to the right-to-know law, and that the Local Government Center building in Concord is "not owned by a public entity" and is also not subject to the law.

In 2007, the firefighters took the case back to court, this time in Merrimack County.

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