Council delays rule change on elected-official pay amid statutory ambiguity; seeks legal review

New Canaan, Conn. — The Town Council debated whether to revise council rules governing the timing and approval of elected-official compensation, and members agreed to seek legal counsel and coordinate with the Board of Finance before making any ruling ahead of the November election. The matter arose during a rules review when councilors raised a constitutional and statutory issue: the state constitution includes a limitation that newly elected officials may not set a salary for the term in which they run, and council members cited Connecticut statutory language outlining municipal pay-setting and budget authority. The council did not adopt rule changes at the meeting. Why it matters: The timing for setting compensation affects whether incumbents or candidates know the pay for the term they seek and whether increases can be applied to the incoming term. Councilors said the issue must be resolved before November if a new salary level is to apply to the next term. Tom Butterworth, who led the rules discussion, reviewed the statute as the council discussed options: “Any municipality, through its legislative body, that's us, may fix the compensation of its officials and employees subject to the approval of the budget authority,” he said during the meeting. Butterworth and other members noted differing interpretations about whether the Board of Finance or the council is the town’s budget authority in this context and whether the council must set compensation during the normal budget cycle. Members raised a prior practice in which the council set salaries before an election so incoming officials would know the pay level; others stressed that this year the required language was missed during the budget process. Councilors discussed technical fixes (amending rule text to reference compliance with Connecticut statutes) and process fixes (seeking town counsel’s opinion and obtaining formal Board of Finance review or recommendation) but chose not to vote on rule changes at the July meeting. Next steps: Councilors instructed staff to obtain legal guidance and to coordinate with the Board of Finance so that any change complies with state law and the constitution and can be decided before the November election if the council wishes the changes to apply to the next term. The council deferred a vote on rule revisions until legal counsel and finance review could be completed.