(A) The City Council shall, by ordinance, fix the compensation of every elected city officer not later than the first Monday in May in the year in which the officer is elected. An elected officer’s compensation shall not be changed after his or her election, or during his or her term of office.
(KRS 83A.070(1))
(1) In order to equate the compensation of the Mayor and the City Council members with the purchasing power of the dollar, the Department for Local Government shall compute by the second Friday in February of every year the annual increase or decrease in the consumer price index of the preceding year by using 1949 as the base year, in accordance with the State Constitution § 246, which provides that mayors in cities of the first class shall be paid at a rate no greater than $12,000 per annum, and mayors in cities other than the first class and city council members shall be paid at a rate no greater than $7,200 per annum.
(2) The City Council shall set the compensation of these officers in accordance with KRS 83A.070 at a rate no greater than that stipulated by the Department for Local Government.
(KRS 83A.075)
(B) The City Council shall fix the compensation of city employees and nonelected city officers in accordance with the personnel and pay classification plan ordinance of the city.
(KRS 83A.070(2))
(C) All fees and commissions authorized by law shall be paid into the city treasury for the benefit of the city and shall not be retained by any officer or employee.
(KRS 83A.070(3))
(D) (1) The following personnel and pay classifications are hereby established.
Position | Compensation Range |
Position | Compensation Range |
Administrative Assistant | $23,402 to $40,000 |
Administrative Clerk | $25,499 to $41,134 |
City Clerk/Treasurer | $34,410 to $64,972 |
General laborer | $20,800 to $37,440 |
Police Chief | $31,200 to $66,436 |
Police officer | $22,880 to $37,440 |
Public Works Director | $24,960 to $45,760 |
Sewer Plant Operator Class I | $26,028 to $37,001 |
Sewer Plant Operator Class II | $27,156 to $40,962 |
Sewer Superintendent | $29,120 to $53,963 |
Utility Maintenance Director | $24,960 to $41,600 |
Water Plant Operator Class I | $23,920 to $33,411 |
Water Plant Operator Class II | $25,334 to $40,671 |
Water Plant Operator Class III | $28,883 to $43,554 |
Water/Sewer Operator in Training | $20,800 to $24,960 |
Water Superintendent | $36,771 to $62,400 |
(2) The Mayor shall have discretion to pay employees and nonelected city officers additional compensation for services rendered, but such additional compensation shall be subject to the appropriations set form in the budget ordinance.
(Ord. 2-2019, passed 6-5-2019; Ord. 2-2023, passed 2-27-2023)
Case law reference:
The limits on compensation contained in the State Constitution are not absolute limits but rather increase or decrease in accordance with changes in the consumer price index. See Matthews v. Allen, 360 SW2d 135 (1948).