Could New Iberia pay health insurance premiums for its mayor and trustees when its charter did not provide for them?

Plain-English summary

New Iberia had been paying part of the health insurance premiums for its mayor and trustees. Its special charter set their salaries and automobile allowances but said nothing about health insurance. The Attorney General concluded that the city was not authorized to pay the premiums under that charter.

The mayor also asked whether stopping the payments would violate Louisiana's constitutional rule against reducing a local official's compensation during the term of office. The AG said it would not: because the payments were never authorized, stopping them was not a reduction in compensation. The opinion rejected reliance on La. R.S. 33:404.1 because that statute addressed Lawrason Act municipalities, while New Iberia operated under a special charter.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2002. 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.

Common questions

Could New Iberia keep paying officials' health insurance premiums?
The AG said no. The charter provision fixing the mayor's and trustees' compensation did not authorize those payments.

Would ending the payments unlawfully reduce elected officials' compensation?
The opinion said no, because the premiums had never been authorized as compensation.

Did the Lawrason Act compensation statute allow the premiums?
The AG said La. R.S. 33:404.1 did not apply to New Iberia, which operated under a special charter.

Background and statutory framework

Section 9 of New Iberia's charter listed salaries and automobile allowances for the mayor and trustees. The opinion said its silence on health insurance left the city without authority to pay the premiums. It then addressed Article 6, Section 12 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974, which barred reducing an official's compensation during a term, and explained why discontinuing unauthorized premiums did not violate it.

Citations and references

• La. R.S. 33:404.1
• Article 6, Section 12 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974
• Section 9 of New Iberia's charter, quoted in the opinion

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/02-0197

Original opinion text

One American Place
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
301 Main Street, Suite 600
CIVIL DIVISION
P.O. Box 94005
BATON ROUGE
TEL.: (225) 342-7013
FAX: (225) 342-2090
RICHARD P. IEYOUB
70804-9005
ATTORNEY GENERAL

JUL 0 8 2002
Opinion Number 02-0197

90-A-2 Public Funds - Loan, Pledge or Grants Art. 7, Section 14 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974
Honorable Ruth Fontenot
La. R. S. 33:404.1
Mayor, City of New Iberia
City of New Ibeda may not pay health insurance premiums of
457 East Main, Suite 300
Mayor and Trustees when ordinance fixing their compensation
New Iberia, LA 70560-3700
does not provide for such.

Dear Mayor Fontenot:

We received your request for our opinion regarding the City’s payment of health insurance premiums on behalf of the Mayor and Trustees. According to the information provided in your request, the City of New Iberia has paid a portion of health insurance premiums for its elected officials. However, the compensation of the Mayor and Trustees is set by the city’s charter. Section 9 of the Charter provides as follows:

(a) The mayor shall receive as compensation a salary of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00.) per month, together with an automobile or automobile expense allowance, or both. Any automobile expense allowance shall be fixed either in the annual budget ordinance, or by separate ordinance.
(b) The trustee elected at large (mayor pro tempore) shall receive as compensation a salary of eight hundred dollars ($800. 00) per month, together with an automobile expense allowance to be fixed either in the annual budget ordinance, or by separate ordinance.
(c) The trustees elected from districts shall receive as compensation a salary of seven hundred dollars ($700. 00) per month, together with an automobile expense allowance to be fixed either in the annual budget ordinance, or by separate ordinance.

The charter is silent as to health insurance premiums and the City now questions whether it may continue to pay them.

Because the Charter is silent to health insurance premiums, it is our opinion that the City is not authorized to pay health insurance premiums for the mayor and trustees.

You refer to La. R.S. 33:404.1 in the request; however, this statute applies to Lawrason Act municipalities. The City of New Iberia is not a Lawrason Act municipality; rather, it operates under a special charter. As such, La. R.S. 33:404.1 is inapplicable.

We do note that Article 6, Section 12 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974 provides that the compensation of a local official shall not be reduced during the term for which he is

Page 2

Opinion Number 02-0197
Honorable Ruth Fontenot
Mayor, City of New Iberia
Page -2-

elected. You question whether or not the discontinuance by the City to pay the health insurance premiums of these elected officials violates this provision. It is our opinion that it does not because the City was never authorized to pay the premiums and accordingly, would not constitute a reduction of compensation.

We trust that this adequately responds to your request. If you have any questions, please contact our office. With kindest regards,

Yours very truly,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
Attorney General

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TIN;K’~I~ARI GR~NT "
Assistant Attorney General

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