DES MOINES &#8212 Mishaps on state property and misbehavior by state employees cost Iowa taxpayers $6.7 million to settle lawsuits last year and another $600,000 to pay damage claims.

The State Appeal Board is responsible for approving claims to settle lawsuits and other claims.

In the 2007 budget year, which ended June 30, the board approved 304 damage claims at a cost of $600,000.

They included $27,000 to compensate a girl who was kicked and stomped by an agitated steer in a livestock barn at the Iowa State Fair and $90,000 to pay for injuries from a sponge left inside the abdomen of a patient treated at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City.

An inmate suicide at the Iowa State Penitentiary cost the state $30,000.

The appeal board settled with the inmate’s estate after the man, who had a history of mental illness, took a large quantity of prescription pills he had secretly accumulated.

Settling lawsuits was even more costly during the year costing the state $6.7 million.

The largest payment was a $1.7 million settlement reached with Royal Financial, a West Des Moines company that invested very heavily in TouchPlay gambling machines.