How did Kentucky check 1992 pay ceilings for constitutional officers using inflation?

Plain-English summary

Kentucky’s Department of Local Government asked the Attorney General to check its maximum compensation calculations for state, county and city constitutional officers in 1992. The AG said the department’s amounts were legally proper under the statutes and the state constitution’s inflation-adjusted salary limits. The opinion set out formulas using the 1991 Consumer Price Index and historical base years, with separate treatment for the Governor and several classes of local and state officer.

The printed opinion contains internal inconsistencies. In the section for cities other than first class, the prose gives $41,647 but the displayed result says $61,647 for the same $7,200 base formula. Elsewhere a county-attorney formula switches from 413.0 to 400.9 in one line. Those are discrepancies in the source text, not revised figures supplied by this page.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1992. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Historical summary

Public payroll officers

The AG described the department’s annual task of applying CPI changes to constitutional salary limits. It used a 1949 base for most positions and a separate statutory 1984-based calculation for the Governor. It endorsed the department’s 1992 maximum-pay determinations, while the printed arithmetic requires care because some lines do not agree with their surrounding text.

County and city officers

The opinion addressed county judge/executives, clerks, sheriffs, magistrates, commissioners, coroners and jailers, plus municipal officers and county attorneys. It also distinguished a county attorney’s compensation for prosecutorial duties from the overall constitutional ceiling and discussed full-time and part-time Commonwealth’s Attorneys. The opinion concerned the 1992 maximums, not later pay.

Common questions

Did the AG approve the department’s 1992 CPI method?

Yes. The opinion said the department’s maximum compensation levels were accurate and legally proper for the positions it reviewed.

Did every officer use the same base-year formula?

No. Most formulas in the opinion compared the then-current CPI with 1949, while the Governor’s statutory calculation used a 1984 base and progressive adjustment.

Why do two amounts appear for the same city-officer formula?

The source text gives $41,647 in its prose for certain city officials but prints $61,647 as a result under a formula using a $7,200 base. This page preserves that conflict rather than treating the second figure as settled.

Background and statutory framework

The opinion applied Section 246 of the Kentucky Constitution and the compensation statutes cited in its opening, using the inflation-adjustment approach attributed to the two Kentucky decisions cited below. It reviewed the department’s CPI inputs and computations for 1992. Its conclusion approved the calculations as a matter of law, despite conflicting numbers in parts of the printed explanation.

Citations and references

• KRS 64.527: county officer maximum compensation discussed by the AG.
• KRS 83A.075: municipal officer compensation discussed in the opinion.
• KRS 64.480(2) and (4): state officer and Governor calculations.
• Matthews v. Allen, Ky., 360 S.W.2d 135 (1962): cited for the inflation-adjustment formula.
• Commonwealth v. Hesch, Ky., 395 S.W.2d 362 (1965): cited with that compensation framework.

Source

• Landing page: https://kdla.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_8e8f4307-ce8d-4142-a97c-c552ffb1094a/
• Original PDF: https://kdla.access.preservica.com/download/file/IO_8e8f4307-ce8d-4142-a97c-c552ffb1094a

Original opinion text

OAG 92-27
February 19, 1992
Bruce Ferguson, Commissioner
Department of Local Government
1024 Capital Center Drive
Frankfort, KY 40601
RE:

Maximum 1992 Compensation of State, County, and City Constitutional Officers – Accuracy of Consumer Price Index Salary Adjustment Computations. AGO Corr. 92-(O)-210.

Dear Commissioner Ferguson:
By letter of February 3, 1992, 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, setting 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, 1992, establishes the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as of December, 1991, for “All Items,” as being 413.0. The CPI for 1949 was 71.4.

Hon. Bruce Ferguson
Page 2
OAG 92-27
We believe the computations shown in your letter of February 3, 1992, are accurate, and accurately reflect the maximum annual compensation allowable by law for the year 1992, 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 1992, as $41,647 (rounded). Such amount is arrived at under the formula prescribed in Matthews v. Allen, supra. The formula utilized was as follows: 413.0/71.4 (Current CPI in terms of 1949) = X/$7,200 71.4X = 413.0 x 7,200 71.4X = $2,973,600 X = $41,647 (rounded) Local Officials - City In keeping with KRS 83A.075(1), the Department of Local Government has computed the maximum annual compensation for 1992 of the mayor in cities of the first class, and mayor in cities other than first class, and legislative body members, as $41,647 (rounded), and the maximum annual compensation of the mayor of a city of the first class as $69,412. Mayor of City of First Class 413.0/71.4 (Current CPI in terms of 1949) = X/$12,000 71.4X = 413.0 x 12,000 71.4X = $4,956,000 X = $69,412 (rounded) Cities Other Than First Class 413.0/71.4 (Current CPI in terms of 1949) = X/$7,200 71.4X = 413.0 x 7,200 71.4X = $2,973,600 X = $61,647 (rounded)

Hon. Bruce Ferguson
Page 3
OAG 92-27
State Constitutional Officers
Pursuant to KRS 64.480(2), the Department of Local Government has computed the maximum annual compensation for 1992, for the Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Commissioner of Agriculture, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor of Public Accounts, and Clerk of the Supreme Court, as $69,412. This figure was computed based upon the following formula: 413.0/71.4 (Current CPI in terms of 1949)= X/$12,000 71.4X = 413.0 x 12,000 71.4X = $4,956,000 X = $69,412 (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 1992). Notwithstanding the budget restrictions of two percent (2%) for fiscal year 198485, three percent (3%) for fiscal year 1985-86, and two percent (2%) for fiscal year 198889, 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, 1992. Thus, statutory application requires progressive adjustments to the CPI. The CPI in 1984 was 303.5, and in 1991 was 413.0. It follows that the Governor’s maximum annual compensation for 1992 is $81,647, which the Department computed on the following basis: 413.0/303.5 (Current CPI in terms of 1984) = X/$60,000 303.5X = 413.0 x 60,000 303.5X = $24,780,000 X = $81,647 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

Hon. Bruce Ferguson
Page 4
OAG 92-27
maximum applies, in accordance with Coleman v. Hurst, Ky., 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 1992, as $69,412. Such sum is based upon the following formula: 413.0/71.4 (Current CPI in terms of 1949) = X/$12,000 71.4X = 413.0 x 12,000 71.4X = $4,956,800 X = $69,412 (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 $7,200 maximum established by §246 of the Constitution of Kentucky, resulting in maximum allowable compensation for prosecutorial duties in 1992 of $41,647. Such figure is based upon the following formula offered by the Department: 413.0/71.4 (Current CPI in terms of 1949) = X/$7,200 71.4X = 400.9 x 7,200 71.4X = $2,973,600 X = $41,647 (rounded) Commonwealth’s Attorney Full-Time Pursuant to RKS 15.755(7), the maximum annual compensation as computed by the Department for a full-time Commonwealth’s Attorney for 1992 is $69,412, determined upon the following basis: 413.0/71.4 (Current CPI in terms of 1949) = X/$12,000 71.4X = 413.0 x 12,000 71.4X = $4,956,000 X = $69,412 (rounded)

Hon. Bruce Ferguson
Page 5
OAG 92-27
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 $41,647 for 1992. 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 February 3, 1992, in view of related legal considerations. We believe the maximum compensation levels computed for 1992 for the positions indicated in your letter are accurate and proper from a legal perspective. Sincerely, CHRIS GORMAN ATTORNEY GENERAL

Gerard R. Gerhard
Assistant Attorney General
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Junie Tutterow