Request By:
Mr. Joe C. Morris, Jr.
Branch Manager
County Fee Systems
Department of Local Government
Capital Plaza Tower
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Opinion
Opinion By: Frederic J. Cowan, Attorney General; Gerard R. Gerhard, Assistant Attorney General
Re: Accuracy of Consumer Price Index Salary Adjustment Formulae for 1991 for Constitutional Officers. AGO Corr. No. 91-0-122.
By letter of January 25, 1991, you requested an opinion of this office verifying the accuracy of computations to be used in adjusting salaries of Constitutional officers in relation to changes in the Consumer Price Index.
Pursuant to KRS 15.755(7), 15.765(3), 64.480(2), 64.480(4), 64.527, and 83A.075, the Department of Local Government annually computes, by the second Friday in February of each year, the maximum compensation payable to constitutional officers listed in those sections, 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).
The Department's computations were based upon 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. Under the prescribed formula, salaries paid to constitutional officers are adjusted in accordance with the current purchasing power of the dollar in relation to the salary maximums set in the 1949 Amendment of § 246 of Kentucky's Constitution. The adjustments are based upon the "Consumer Price Index" maintained by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Labor Statistics. A news release issued by the Bureau's Southeast Regional Office at Atlanta, dated January 16, 1991, establishes the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as of December, 1990, for "All Items," as being 400.9. The CPI for 1949 was 71.4.
We believe the computations shown in your letter of January 25, 1991, are accurate, and accurately reflect the maximum annual compensation allowable by law for the year 1991, for the positions addressed in such letter. Discussion follows.
Local Officials - County
Pursuant to KRS 64.527, the Department computes the maximum annual compensation of the county judge/executives, county clerks, sheriffs, magistrates, county commissioners, coroners, and jailers, for 1991, as $ 40,427 (rounded) . Such amount is arrived at under the formula prescribed in Matthews v. Allen, supra.
The formula utilized was as follows:
400.9/71.4 (Current CPI in terms of 1949) = X/$ 7,200
71.4X = 400.9 X 7,20071.4X = $ 2,886,480X = $ 40,427 (rounded)
Local Officials - City
In keeping with KRS 83A.075(1), the Department of Local Government has computed the maximum annual compensation of the mayor in cities of the first class, and mayors in cities other than first class, and legislative body members, as $ 40,427 (rounded) , and the maximum annual compensation of the mayor of a city of the first class as $ 67,378.
Cities Other Than First Class
400.9/71.4 (Current CPI in terms of 1949) = X/$ 7,200
71.4X = 400.9 X 7,20071.4X = $ 2,886,480X = $ 40,427 (rounded)
Mayor of City of First Class
400.9/71.4 (Current CPI in terms of 1949) = X/$ 12,000
71.4X = 400.9 X 12,00071.4X = $ 4,810,800X = $ 67,378 (rounded)
State Constitutional Officers
Pursuant to KRS 64.480(2), the Department of Local Government has computed the maximum annual compensation for the Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Commissioner of Agriculture, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor of Public Accounts, and Clerk of the Supreme Court, as $ 67,378 for 1991.
This figure was computed based upon the following formula:
400.9/71.4 (Current CPI in terms of 1949) = X/$ 12,000
71.4X = 400.9 X 12,00071.4X = $ 4,810,800X = $ 67,378 (rounded)
Pursuant to KRS 64.480(4), the Department for Local Government is required to compute, by the second Friday in February of every year, beginning in 1985, an adjusted salary of the Governor. Such computation is to be made by multiplying the base compensation of sixty thousand ($ 60,000), by the increase in the CPI during the period from January 1, 1984, to the beginning of the then-current calendar year (here 1991).
Notwithstanding the budget restrictions of two percent (2%) for fiscal year 1984-85, three percent (3%) for fiscal year 1985-86, and two percent (2%) for fiscal year 1988-89, the CPI adjusted compensation paid to the Governor for the entire calendar year of 1985, and subsequent years, shall be the base salary for purposes of computing current salary. The base salary here is sixty thousand ($ 60,000), and the adjustment is the application of the CPI during the period from January 1, 1984, to the beginning of the current calendar year of January 1, 1991. Thus, statutory application requires progressive adjustments to the CPI. The CPI in 1984 was 303.5, and in 1990 was 400.9. It follows that the Governor's maximum annual compensation for 1991 is $ 79,255, which the Department computed on the following basis:
400.9/303.5 (Current CPI in terms of 1984) = X/$ 60,000
303.5X = 400.9 X 60,000303.5X = $ 24,054,000X = $ 79,255
County Attorney
The county attorney, although a county constitutional officer under § 99 of the Kentucky Constitution, and having county responsibilities under KRS 69.210, also has state duties pursuant to KRS 15.725(2). In relation to the state prosecutorial duties of the County Attorney, such officer is to be compensated as provided in KRS 15.765, under a CPI formula using 1949 as the base year, in accordance with § 246 of the Constitution of Kentucky, which provides for compensation of not more than $ 12,000 per annum. That maximum applies, in accordance with Coleman v. Hurst, 226 Ky. 501, 11 S.W.2d 133, (1928), regardless of compensation received from the fiscal court as County Attorney, the county's civil advisor, and from the state as prosecutor. In Hurst, supra, the court ruled that the constitutional limit on compensation of constitutional officers applies whether services are rendered in one position, or more than one.
The Department has computed the maximum annual compensation for the County Attorney (KRS 15.765(3)), under the CPI formula for 1991, as $ 67,378. Such sum is based upon the following formula:
400.9/71.4 (Current CPI in terms of 1949) = X/$ 12,000
71.4X = 400.9 X 12,00071.4X = $ 4,810,800X = $ 67,378 (rounded)
In relation to the compensation of a County Attorney for his or her prosecutorial duties, KRS 15.765(1) provides, in effect, for current compensation for such duties to be computed based upon the $ 7200 maximum established by § 246 of the Constitution of Kentucky, resulting in maximum allowable compensation for prosecutorial duties in 1991 of $ 40,427. Such figure is based upon the following formula offered by the Department:
400.9/71.4 (Current CPI in terms of 1949) = X/$ 7,200
71.4X = 400.9 X 7,20071.4X = $ 2,886,480X = $ 40,427 (rounded)
Commonwealth's Attorney
Full-Time
Pursuant to KRS 15.755(7), the maximum annual compensation as computed by the Department for a full-time Commonwealth's Attorney for 1991 is $ 67,378, determined upon the following basis:
400.9/71.4 (Current CPI in terms of 1949) = X/$ 12,000
71.4X = 400.9 X 12,00071.4X = $ 4,810,800X = $ 67,378 (rounded)
Part-Time
OAG 84-54 interpreted the provisions of KRS 15.755 to indicate that part-time Commonwealth's Attorneys are to be paid a salary equal to the maximum state share for the County Attorney. That amount, as indicated above, is $ 40,427 for 1991.
We have reviewed the Department's computation of maximum salaries of certain public officers, and the bases of those computations as reflected in your letter of January 25, 1991, in view of related legal considerations. We believe the maximum compensation levels computed for 1991 for the positions indicated in your letter are accurate, and proper from a legal perspective.