Request By:
Hon. John P. Kirkham
Kirkham & Fowler
1404 South Virginia Street
P.O. Box 585
Hopkinsville, Kentucky 42240
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; Walter C. Herdman, Asst. Deputy Attorney General
As attorney for the city of Elkton, you relate the following facts and question:
"The City of Elkton currently pays its members of the Council on a per meeting basis pursuant to the provisions of KRS 83A.070. It was desired by the Council to increase the per meeting allowance by ordinance, including the addition of allowing the same fee per meeting for any special called meetings. Naturally, they realize that this cannot be increased during their current terms of office, but would only apply to future legislative bodies. The question is, can the City pay its legislative body members on a per meeting basis and allow a fee in addition for special called meetings?"
Our response to your question as to whether the city can pay the members of the legislative body on a per meeting basis as provided by ordinance and at the same time allow an additional fee for special meetings, would be in the negative. Prior to the adoption of the 1980 Municipal Code, KRS 82.070 (repealed by the Code) required the council to be compensated at a fixed sum not to exceed $15 per legislative day. The 1980 Code repealing KRS 82.070 was enacted to require the establishment of an annual salary for members of the legislative body to be fixed not later than the first Monday in May of the year in which they were elected and further provides that the compensation once fixed cannot be changed during their term. We particularly refer you to KRS 83A.070.
It would thus appear that the ordinance authorizing payment on a fee basis is in violation of the present Municipal Code. KRS 64.730 provides that the failure to fix the compensation as required by law requires that the same compensation be paid as established for the prior term. However, since the compensation was fixed on a per meeting basis illegally in 1981, we believe it is legally permissible to assume that it could now be fixed on an annual basis during the present term, provided, of course, that the compensation fixed during prior terms had been established in the same manner as you presently indicated, that is, on a "per meeting" basis. See OAG 74-142 and Wells v. Roberts, Ky. App., 448 S.W.2d 658 (1969).