The Kentucky Attorney General’s Office has issued an opinion approving a salary increase for Covington’s mayor during a mayoral term.
The opinion paves the way for the city to substantially increase the pay of the mayor in 2027, when the government is set to convert to a strong mayor form of government.
The opinion dovetails with an ordinance passed last year enabling an increase in the mayor’s salary from its current annual pay of roughly $34,400 to the maximum allowable amount for non-first-class cities in the commonwealth, just under $98,000 in 2026, according to the Kentucky Department of Local Government.
That ordinance wasn’t set to take effect until the first day of 2029, immediately after the current mayoral term concludes, but Covington City Solicitor Frank Schultz willingly sought an advisory opinion from the Attorney General’s office as a prerequisite for enacting a salary change when the government conversion takes place next year.
Although attorney general opinions are not binding precedent in the same way a judge’s opinion is binding, attorneys still use them for guidance and to buttress legal arguments. The attorney general’s office delivered its opinion on Sept. 9.
Section 161 of the Kentucky Constitution prevents an elected official’s salary from being increased during a term. However, the Attorney General’s office believed that Kentucky case law allowed for an increase when the duties of an office were expanded, although it admitted that the “specific issue arising from a change in the form of city government becoming effective during the term of a sitting mayor has not been addressed by Kentucky courts.” Existing case law about increases in compensation focused on the pay of judges.
It’s clear from both the attorney general and a written statement the city sent to LINK nky that Covington is hoping to turn the mayor’s role into a full-time position once the conversion takes place.
“The substantial transformation of the fundamental powers and obligations of the mayoral office in Covington in essence creates a new office in all but name,” the Attorney General’s opinion reads.
“The Attorney General’s opinion recognized the substantial differences between the office of mayor under the city manager and mayor-council forms of government,” the city statement reads. “The opinion concluded that the public interest would not be served by treating the office as part-time in nature.”
Covington residents voted to convert the city government from its current city manager form to a mayor-council form, or strong mayor form, of government in November 2024. The new mayor-council form of government grants greater executive and administrative authority to the mayor’s seat than under the city manager form, including power over much of the day-to-day operations of the city.
The city’s committee on government transition, a recommending body formed after the voter referendum, recommended on Sept. 10, the day after the opinion was tendered, that the current Board of Commissioners enshrine the 2027 salary increase in law. However, the board has not yet considered that issue. Current Mayor Ron Washington attended the Sept. 10 meeting but recused himself from the discussion.
In order to enact such an ordinance, the Covington Board of Commissioners would have to go through the typical legislative process of two readings and a vote.
You can read the full opinion from the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office below.
