Request By:
Mr. Greg Payne
Councilman
City Building
Catlettsburg, Kentucky 41129
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
This is in response to your recent letter in which you raise the following question:
"Is it legal for the mayor of our town, a fourth class city, to have his salary increased from the sum of $100 to $300 after serving two years of his term?"
Our response to your question would be in the negative and we refer you to KRS 83A.070(1), which reads as follows:
"(1) The legislative body of each city shall by ordinance fix the compensation of every elected city officer not later than the first Monday in May in the year in which the officer is elected. An elected officer's compensation shall not be changed after his election or during his term of office."
The above statute is essentially the same as KRS 64.580, repealed by the 1980 Legislature which had been in effect many years. You will note that once the compensation of an elected officer, such as that of mayor, is fixed not later than the first Monday in May in the year in which he is elected, as required by statute, it cannot be changed after his election or during his term of office.