Request By:
Paul W. Blair, Esq.
120 Normal Avenue
Morehead, Kentucky 40351
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Thomas R. Emerson, Assistant Attorney General
This is in response to your letter raising a question concerning the compensation of the members of the Morehead Utility Plant Board. The Morehead Utility Plant Board is organized under the provisions of the Kentucky T.V.A. Act (KRS 96.550 to 96.900). Morehead is a city of the fourth class and KRS 96.750(1)(d) provides that the salary of each member of a board of public utilities in such a city cannot exceed $300 per annum.
Some members of the Morehead Utility Plant Board feel that the $300 per annum is no longer even "token" compensation for the time and effort they expend. You ask whether it is permissible under KRS 64.610, any other statute, court decision or theory of law for the compensation of the board members to be increased beyond the $300 per annum.
As you have indicated, KRS 96.750(1)(d) specifically provides that the salary of each board member of the board of public utilities in a city of the class to which Morehead belongs cannot exceed $300 per annum. KRS 64.610, to which you refer, concerns the compensation of employes of a county or city board or commission. Note, however, the provisions of KRS 64.660, concerning the compensation of members of public boards and commissions:
"Nothing in KRS 64.480 to 64.760 is intended to authorize the increase of the compensation now fixed by law for the members of any public board or commission for their services as members of the board or commission, except members of fiscal courts to the extent authorized in subsection (3) of KRS 64.530."
Furthermore, we are not aware of any legislation or case law whereby members of the utility plant board can utilize the "rubber dollar" concept to "adjust" their salaries upward in order to equate their current rate of compensation with the present value and purchasing power of the dollar. Compare the provisions of KRS 64.527 and 64.528, applicable to certain designated officials.
In our opinion the salaries of the members of the Morehead Utility Plant Board, which is organized pursuant to KRS 96.550 to 96.900, cannot exceed $300 per annum. The General Assembly has specifically stated in KRS 96.750(1)(d) that such salaries cannot exceed $300 per annum and KRS 64.660 precludes an increase in compensation for members of a public board whose salaries are fixed by statute. If the members of the utility plant board are to receive a salary increase, it will have to be provided through action of the Kentucky General Assembly.