MARIN COUNTY officials probably made the right decision in settling lawsuits over the Civic Center's flawed financial software system.

To continue the high-stakes legal battle would have risked throwing more taxpayer money down the drain.

County leaders have now spent more than $31 million on what has to rank as one of the biggest financial mistakes in the history of Marin County government.

Supervisors filed the lawsuits because they wanted to recoup some of taxpayers' investment in the failed system — and because they said they wanted accountability.

Taxpayers still deserve answers and accountability, which is why it is disappointing that the settlement with Deloitte Consulting includes a gag order. The gag order could well have been what allowed Marin to fold its hand and only lose $1.1 million, but it also means county officials don't have to explain what really happened.

The county settled for $3.9 million after spending at least $5 million. The $1.1 million is on top of the $30 million spent on a financial software system that is in the process of being scrapped.

The high-powered system never worked as advertised, delaying county audits and creating a host of other problems, including payroll glitches. Costs kept mounting as Deloitte and county staff attempted to get the software to work properly.

Even as the troubled system was in a full financial tailspin, supervisors and top officials expressed confidence in it.

When the county filed lawsuits over the financial software system in 2010, officials proclaimed they had a strong case and expected to prevail. They kept saying that even as the county legal team was suffering setbacks.

"We have a strong case and are committed to ensuring accountability for our taxpayers," Supervisor Steve Kinsey said in a statement a year ago.

In one suit, the county claimed fraud, misrepresentation and misconduct in seeking $30 million from Deloitte. In another it accused the company, which designed and installed the system using SAP software, of racketeering and sought treble damages, alleging that the firm engaged in a conspiracy with SAP and Ernest Culver.

County supervisors selected the software system in 2005 to replace an aging accunting system incapable of providing indepth financial information and data. Culver is the former county auditor who managed the software project. He joined SAP in 2007.

The eight-sentence settlement statement says that while Marin County "remains concerned" about Culver's role, "Deloitte Consulting did not improperly influence the employee."

The settlement does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing by either party.

Of course not. But anyone who has followed this mess knows there were plenty of mistakes made along the way.

County supervisors did not ask enough questions when the software system was being selected. And they waited years to start asking questions in public about why it wasn't working, even as they approved spending more money to get it working.

TOP STAFF was sold a software system full of bells and whistles — features the county didn't need. And then it never worked properly, resulting in more millions being spent.

The fact Culver left the county to work for SAP, a global software giant, after managing this nightmare is troubling, to say the least.

Supervisors now have agreed to a gag order that conveniently prevents them and top county brass from talking about why taxpayers kept writing checks for millions.

The county probably was right to cut its losses and settle this case. The lawsuits also were just the latest in a string of miscalculations that no financial software could have prevented. Those errors in judgment were often made in meetings behind closed doors.

And now the public, which is stuck with the tab, has been told it won't know the details of how its money was spent.

Supervisors said the lawsuits were about accountability. Taxpayers are still waiting.