Title
Discussion and Possible Action on Revising Elected Officials Salaries
Recommended Action
I move that Council direct the County Manager to ______________ [insert desired action here].
Body
The salaries for the Los Alamos County’s Elected Officials are stated in the Municipal Code. The Code also states which officials are considered full-time, which is only the Clerk currently. Historically, the State of New Mexico set a cap for the elected officials’ salaries. Most recently in 2022, Los Alamos County adopted Ordinance Nos. 02-330 and 02-331 which set the elected officials’ salaries to the State cap as follows:
Councilors – $12,674
Council Chair - $12,674 + $3,170 = $15,844
Clerk - $73,733
Assessor - $7,922
Sheriff - $7,922
Probate Judge - $4,636
Municipal Judge - $104,604
New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 4, the County Officer Salaries Amendment, was on the ballot in New Mexico as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 5, 2024. The ballot measure was approved which amended the State Constitution to authorize the board of county commissioners to set salaries for county officers. This amendment, essentially, removed the State cap for elected officials’ salaries.
This item, which is at the request of Council, is to discuss and possibly give direction to the County Manager about changes elected officials’ salaries. Attachment A shows a list of salaries in neighboring counties and counties with similar populations as Los Alamos County. These salaries were part of a survey conducted by New Mexico Counties and a direct email request to Counties. Other Counties were also considered for comparison such as those who are grouped with Los Alamos County for New Mexico Counties member participation fees. Those Counties included Chaves, Lincoln, McKinley, Otero, Rio Arriba, Taos, and Valencia. Unfortunately, of these Counties, only Rio Arriba provided information to this survey.
Note that the Municipal Judge was not part of that survey but in most recent ordinance (No. 02-331), it was indicated that the Municipal Judge salary would be approximately 90% of the current Magistrate Judge compensation due to the level of involvement and complexity of cases of the Los Alamos Municipal Court. Using the same comparison, the Municipal Judge recommended new salary would be $118,837 which is 90% of the FY2026 Magistrate Judge salary ($132,041.73).
Another item to note is that in most other counties of New Mexico, the Assessor position is full-time. Los Alamos County (LAC) Assessor George Chandler does not recommend making the assessor position in LAC full-time. He recommends allowing the elected Assessor to receive additional compensation for assessors and staff that hold certain defined certifications. State Bill SB324, effective July 1, 2023, indicates the additional compensation for each certification of Appraiser 1, 2, 3, and 4 and is shown in Attachment B.
Attachment C contains metrics for both the Probate and Sheriff Offices.
Finally, if Council desires to increase elected officials’ compensation, these increases would take effect upon the next term of office for the elected position. Increases in elected officials’ compensation during the elected official’s term of office are expressly prohibited by N.M. Const. Art. IV, § 27. This article of the State Constitution along with the seminal case regarding this article of state constitution, State ex rel. Gilbert v. Bd. of Comm'rs, 29 N.M. 209, Supreme Court of New Mexico (1924) are attached to this staff report (Attachments C and D).
Fiscal and Staff Impact/Unplanned Item
This fiscal impact will need to be analyzed for any change to the elected officials' salaries.
Attachments
A – Salary Comparisons
B – SB 324 Assessor Add’l Compensation
C - Metrics for Probate and Sheriff's Offices
D - N.M. Const. Art. IV, § 27
E - State ex rel. Gilbert v. Bd. of Comm'rs, 29 N.M. 209