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 sur...
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