Request By:
Mr. Junie M. Tutterow
Assistant Director
Division of County & Municipal Accounting
Department of Local Government
Capital Plaza Tower
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Opinion
Opinion By: Frederic J. Cowan, Attorney General; Nathan Goldman, Assistant Attorney General
You request a formal opinion of this office concerning the accuracy of your computations of the maximum compensation of state, county and city constitutional officers. Pursuant to KRS 15.755(7), 15.765(3), 64.480(2), 64.480(4), 64.527 and 83A.075, you are required to annually compute by the second Friday in February the maximum compensation payable to these officials under the "rubber dollar" theory adopted by the court in Matthews v. Allen, Ky., 360 S.W.2d 135 (1962) and Commonwealth v. Hesch, Ky., 395 S.W.2d 362 (1965).
Since we are dealing with the court-established formula application of Section 246 of the Kentucky Constitution, which sets forth maximum compensation levels for state and local governmental constitutional officers, we shall indicate the formula for the following levels of officials. Information from the United States Department of Commerce indicates that the 1949 Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 71.4, while the CPI for the end of 1988 was 360.9.
STATE CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS
Section 246 sets a maximum compensation of $12,000 for the Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Commissioner of Agriculture, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Auditor of Public Accounts and Clerk of the Supreme Court of Kentucky. Pursuant to KRS 64.480(2) these officers must be paid the maximum permissible compensation each year.
However, in the current budget bill (see Appendix A to KRS Chapter 47), at Part VII, the General Assembly has imposed a 2% limit on the increase in salary of state officers. Such a limitation in the budget bill has been held to be constitutional. Commonwealth ex rel. Armstrong v. Collins, Ky., 709 S.W.2d 437 (1986).
The 1988 salary for the aforementioned state constitutional officers was $58,101. Therefore, the 1989 salary for these officers would be computed as follows:
$58,101 X 102% = $59,263.
The 1989 salary for state constitutional officers is $59,263.
GOVERNOR
KRS 64.480(4) requires your office to compute an adjusted salary of the Governor by multiplying $60,000 by the increase in the CPI during the period January 1, 1984, to the current calendar year. This procedure was followed and a salary was computed for the Governor for 1988 of $68,364.
Here, as before with the other state constitutional officers, the 1988 budget bill limits the increase in the 1989 salary to 2%. Therefore, the 1989 salary for the Governor is computed as follows:
$68,364 X 102% = $69,731.
The 1989 salary for the Governor is $69,731.
LOCAL OFFICIALS
The $7,200 maximum compensation of Section 246 of the Kentucky Constitution applies to county judge/executives, justices of the peace, county commissioners, county clerks, sheriffs, jailers and coroners pursuant to KRS 64.527 and mayors (except in cities of the first class) and city legislative body members pursuant to KRS 83A.075.
Under the CPI formula the maximum annual compensation possible for the above-mentioned local constitutional officers in 1989 would be computed as follows:
360.9/71.4 (current CPI in terms of 1949) = X / $7,200 71.4X=360.9 X $7,20071.4X=$2,598,480X=$36,393 (rounded)
Under the CPI formula, the maximum annual compensation possible for the mayor in cities of the first class in 1989 would be as follows:
360.9/71.4 (current CPI in terms of 1949) = X / $12,000 71.4X=360.9 X $12,00071.4X=$4,330,800X=$60,655 (rounded)
Your computations are correct.
COUNTY ATTORNEY
The county attorney, although a county constitutional officer under Section 99 of the Kentucky Constitution, and KRS 69.210, has been given a state-wide function in his prosecutorial role. KRS 15.765(3) establishes the indexing of the original $12,000 maximum in Section 246 of the Constitution as the maximum compensation possible for the county attorney, regardless of what he receives from the fiscal court as county attorney, the county's civil advisor, and from the state as a state prosecutor. That point was decided as early as 1928 in Coleman v. Hurst, 226 Ky. 501, 11 S.W.2d 133, in which the court ruled that the constitutional limit of compensation for constitutional officers applies whether such services are rendered in one position or more than one.
Here, too, the 1988 budget bill limits the county attorney's salary increase for 1989 to 2%. Pursuant to KRS 15.765(3), the maximum annual compensation possible for the county attorney under the CPI formula for 1988 was $58,101. Therefore, the maximum possible compensation for the county attorney for 1989 would be computed as follows:
$58,101 X 102% = $59,263.
The maximum 1989 salary would be $59,263.
Similarly, the budget bill limits any increase of the county attorney's salary for his prosecutorial duties to 2%. KRS 15.765(1) provides, in effect, for the indexing of the $7,200 level for his prosecutorial duties. The 1988 compensation was $34,861. For 1989, it would be computed as follows:
$34,861 X 102% = $35,502.
The 1989 prosecutorial salary would be $35,502.
COMMONWEALTH ATTORNEY
Full-Time
Pursuant to KRS 15.755(7), the maximum annual compensation possible for full-time commonwealth attorneys for 1988 was $58,101.
The 1988 budget bill limits any increase of this compensation to 2%. The 1989 compensation would be computed as follows:
$58,101 X 102% = $59,263.
Therefore, the 1989 compensation for commonwealth attorneys is $59,263.
Part-Time
OAG 84-54 interpreted the provisions of KRS 15.755 to indicate that part-time commonwealth attorneys are to be paid a salary equal to the maximum state share for the county attorney. As stated above, that salary is $35,502 for 1989.