Constitutional Amendment 4 - County Officer Salaries Amendment

Summary

This measure would amend Section 1 of Article X of the New Mexico Constitution to change the establishment of county officer salaries from the state level to be by the board of county commissioners.

A yes vote supports amending the state constitution to authorize the board of county commissioners to set salaries for county officers and clarify that fees collected by the county are to be deposited into the county treasury.

A no vote opposes amending the state constitution to authorize the board of county commissioners to set salaries for county officers, thereby maintaining that the state legislature sets the salaries of county officers.

Arguments

"Will give voters more say in how their counties are managed. County officers are locally elected and directly accountable to their constituents. Setting salaries for county officers at the local level will give the local voters a stronger voice in how their counties are managed. This amendment would localize salary decisions and make county officers more accountable to their constituents. " - New Mexico Legislature's Summary of and Arguments For & Against, in support of Constitutional Amendment 4 (Learn more)

"County commissioners would set their own salaries. Currently, Article 10, Section 1 of the Constitution of New Mexico places the legislature in a neutral third-party role and provides assurances to the people of the state that county officer salaries are determined impartially. This proposed amendment may make these determinations more susceptible to short-term political or personal considerations. If this measure passes, county commissioners will not only be determining the salaries for officials they directly oversee, they will be setting salaries for themselves. By removing the legislature from this determination process, this amendment may give rise to issues concerning public trust and accountability. " - New Mexico Legislature's Summary of and Arguments For & Against, in opposition to Constitutional Amendment 4 (Learn more)

"Without legislative oversight, county official salaries will be wide-ranging and inconsistent among counties. Pursuant to its current obligation to fix the salaries for county officers, the legislature has established a comprehensive classification system based on a combination of a county's population and the total value of real estate within the county. This system helps to ensure that salaries are uniform and proportional across the state. This proposed amendment empowers boards of county commissioners to establish officer salaries without any standards such as attaching salaries to county classifications or guardrails such as salary minimums or maximums. Without standards or guardrails, county constituents will face unpredictability and potential issues regarding fairness and transparency. This amendment would disrupt an established and uniform system and could give rise to unforeseen problems." - New Mexico Legislature's Summary of and Arguments For & Against, in opposition to Constitutional Amendment 4 (Learn more)

"Provides more local control to boards of county commissioners. While it made sense for the legislature to set county officer salaries when the state was new, the counties are now longstanding, established entities that handle their own affairs without such close state guidance. Like the elimination of the fee system at the time the constitution was ratified, this amendment is similarly a measure to modernize the system to better reflect the realities of day-to-day governance. The current law only sets maximum salaries for county officers and already allows boards of county commissioners discretion in determining salary increases for their officers within the statutory limitations. Proposed Constitutional Amendment 4 would promote government efficiency by allowing these local decisions to be made locally. " - New Mexico Legislature's Summary of and Arguments For & Against, in support of Constitutional Amendment 4 (Learn more)

Measure Details