FLINT, MI -- A state committee has given the green light to $2.6 million more in spending to continue Attorney General Bill Schuette's investigation and prosecution related to the Flint water crisis.

The State Administrative Board's Finance & Claims Committee gave initial approval of a new contract with Flood Law, which is overseeing the probe that's resulted in criminal charges against 15 current and former city and state employees, in a meeting Tuesday, Oct. 17, said Andrea Bitely, a spokesman for the attorney general.

With Tuesday's approval, the contract moves to the Michigan's State Administrative Board, which is scheduled to consider the same contract in a meeting scheduled for next week, said Caleb Buhs, a spokesman for the state Department of Technology, Management and Budget.

If approved then, the additional $2.6 million be added to the already-incurred cost of $4.9 million to the public for prosecuting Flint water cases to date, Bitely said.

State taxpayers have already spent more than $15 million in legal costs related to the water crisis, not including additional unspent funds that have been appropriated by the state Legislature.

That $15 million spending doesn't include the cost of legal fees for former city employees Howard Croft, Michael Glasgow and Daugherty Johnson or for attorneys representing three former emergency managers -- Ed Kurtz, Darnell Earley and Gerald Ambrose.

Earley and Ambrose have been charged with criminal wrongdoing related to the water crisis.

Although the state has told the city it will pay for those emergency manager expenses up to $300,000 and beyond if they are certified as reasonable and necessary by the city, invoices submitted by the city to date are still under review by the state Treasury Department.