Request By:
Larry G. Bryson, Esq.
North Main Street
London, Kentucky 40741
Opinion
Opinion By: FREDERIC J. COWAN, ATTORNEY GENERAL; Thomas R. Emerson, Assistant Attorney General
Your letter concerns the mayor's authority to declare Good Friday a paid holiday for city employees. The mayor apparently is of the opinion that by virtue of his authority as the chief executive officer of the city he can make such a decision.
KRS 83A.070(3) states that the legislative body of each city shall fix the compensation of city employees in accordance with a personnel and pay classification plan which shall be adopted by ordinance. It could certainly be argued that the ordinance dealing with the personnel plan would or could include such matters as paid holidays for city employees. Ordinances, of course, are adopted by the city legislative body.
From the standpoint of executive and legislative functions, we direct your attention to OAG 83-176, copy enclosed, at page two, where the following appears:
In the case of
Vanmeter v. City of Paris, Ky., 273 S.W.2d 49 (1954), the court disclosed that it is often difficult to determine whether the exercise of a power concerning a given subject matter is legislative in character or administrative, but the rule is that the power to be exercised is legislative if it prescribes a new policy or plan and it is administrative if it merely pursues a plan already adopted by the legislative body . . . .
In McQuillin Mun. Corp. (3rd Ed.), Vol. 2, § 10.06 (1988 Revised Edition), a copy of which is enclosed, it is stated in part as follows:
. . . If it can be shown that the particular act could not have been done without a law or ordinance, such act is considered as legislative. The crucial test for determining what is legislative and what is administrative has been said to be whether the ordinance is one making a new law, or one executing a law already in existence . . . .
See also OAG 82-258, copy enclosed, of related interest.
It would, therefore, appear that the designation of those days constituting paid holidays for municipal employees is a legislative function and not within the realm of the mayor's powers and duties.