He may not be a City Council member anymore but, for the city of Austin, Don Zimmerman never goes away.

A year after a judge’s ruling that overturned two facets of Austin campaign finance rules, based on a Zimmerman challenge, and upheld two others, both parties are appealing the decision.

And the city’s tab keeps rising. Council members voted Thursday to add $75,000 to their agreement with lawyers fighting the case, bringing the total to $255,000.

Zimmerman’s lawyer, Jerad Najvar, has received nothing for the case and will get paid only if he wins and is awarded fees, he said.

Zimmerman sued the city in 2015, claiming campaign finance rules passed decades ago were unconstitutional. A judge agreed in part, ruling that a fundraising blackout period violated his freedom of association and a requirement to dissolve campaign funds after the election violated his freedom of speech.

But the court upheld the city’s $350 per donor fundraising limit and cap on donations from people who live outside of Austin city limits.

The appeals court has received briefs on both sides and is now weighing whether to have oral arguments.

Council Member Leslie Pool tried in May to bring back to council revised rules that would give candidates a year to fundraise, rather than the 180 days thrown out by the judge, and give winning candidates six months to pay off their debt and fund officeholder accounts. On advice of city lawyers, that effort is waiting on the outcome of the lawsuit, Pool said Thursday.

Mayor Steve Adler called the city’s appeal an effort to uphold what citizens approved in a vote nearly 20 years ago.

“All these rules were designed to keep the power of money out of elections to the greatest extent allowed by law and the Constitution,” Adler said.

The increased legal fees passed on the council’s noncontroversial consent agenda, with only Council Member Ellen Troxclair noting that she wanted to be shown voting no.

“We’re on the wrong side of the First Amendment in this lawsuit and we should stop spending money on it,” Troxclair said.