Board of County Com'rs of County of Platte v. State ex rel. Yeadon

• Citation: 971 P.2d 129
• Decision Date: 22 December 1998
• Docket Number: Nos. 97-166,97-167,s. 97-166
• Parties: BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF the COUNTY OF PLATTE, Appellant (Defendant), v. STATE of Wyoming, ex rel., Donna YEADON, Appellee (Plaintiff). State of Wyoming, ex rel., Donna Yeadon, Appellant (Plaintiff), v. Board of County Commissioners of the County of Platte, Appellee (Defendant).
• Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

Page 129

971 P.2d 129

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF the COUNTY OF PLATTE, Appellant (Defendant), v. STATE of Wyoming, ex rel., Donna YEADON, Appellee (Plaintiff).

State of Wyoming, ex rel., Donna Yeadon, Appellant (Plaintiff), v. Board of County Commissioners of the County of Platte, Appellee (Defendant).

Nos. 97-166, 97-167.

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

Dec. 22, 1998.

Rex E. Johnson of Sherard, Sherard & Johnson, Wheatland, for Board of County Commissioners of County of Platte.

Eric M. Alden, Wheatland, for Donna Yeadon.

Before LEHMAN, C.J., and THOMAS, MACY, GOLDEN, and TAYLOR, ^* JJ.

LEHMAN, Chief Justice.

Prior to the 1994 elections, the Board of County Commissioners of Platte County (Board) adopted a resolution by which it could, funds permitting, grant elected county officials cost of living adjustment (COLA) raises of up to 8 percent per year. In 1996, the Board voted to grant 5 percent COLA raises to all elected officials except the sheriff. Donna Yeadon, a Platte County citizen In both cases, we affirm.

sought a writ of mandamus against the Board, arguing that the COLA raises violated the Wyoming Constitution's prohibition against mid-term salary increases for elected officials. The district court agreed with Yeadon and granted her motion for summary judgment. From this decision, the Board appeals. Yeadon also appeals, claiming the district court erred in refusing to order reimbursement of attorney fees she incurred in prosecuting her action.

ISSUES

The Board presents the following issues for our review in Case No. 97-166:

1. Is the Board's April 19, 1994 salary resolution, which provides for a mid-term cost of living salary adjustment, if budgetarily feasible, constitutional (Art. 3, § 32) and in compliance with W.S. 18-3-107?

2. If the April 19, 1994 salary resolution is constitutional, did the Board properly implement the terms of the salary resolution in 1996 when they allowed a cost of living salary increase?

Appellee Donna Yeadon (Yeadon) couches the issue in these terms:

1. Can a board of county commissioners repeal the Constitution and amend the statutes of Wyoming to give themselves powers specifically denied to them by adopting a resolution to that effect?

In Case No. 97-167, Yeadon, as appellant, asserts the following issue:

1. If a taxpayer successfully prosecutes an action to compel a governmental entity to discontinue an illegal expenditure with a resulting benefit to all taxpayers, may the Court award the successful taxpayer-Plaintiff attorneys fees from the monies saved by his efforts?

The Board, as appellee, counters:

1. Should this Court consider an issue that is first raised on appeal?

2. Does the record reflect sufficient evidence to justify an award of attorney fees?

FACTS

In April of 1994, the Board of Platte County Commissioners established elected county official salaries for the upcoming term. In addition to setting base salaries, the Board adopted a resolution whereby it could grant cost of living adjustment (COLA) raises not to exceed 8 percent of each official's annual salary. The resolution provided:

BE IT FURTHERMORE RESOLVED: That a provision is hereby included for a cost of living allowance, not to exceed eight percent (8%), annually, if found to be budgetarily feasible at any time during the term of each official, for whom a salary is determined, and providing that no salary shall exceed the limits set by statute for each respective office.

Although the Board recognized the need for salary increases, revenue for the raises was not immediately available and future tax revenue was uncertain. As a result of the continuing litigation over the assessed valuation of the Laramie River Station, substantial amounts of taxes have been paid under protest, rendering these funds unavailable for distribution. See W.S. 39-1-311. Thus, the Board finds it difficult to budget the salaries of county officials, three and four years in advance, without having a provision for a flexible cost of living increase. In adopting the resolution, the Board relied on Attorney General opinion 78-12.

In 1996, the Board voted to grant 5 percent COLA raises to all county officials, except the sheriff. ¹ In November of 1996, Donna Yeadon filed a petition for writ of mandamus and prohibition to, inter alia, invalidate the COLA raises. Yeadon's complaint alleged that she was "acting in the capacity of a private attorney general for the benefit of the people of Platte County and the State of Wyoming whose funds are being expended for which reason she should be awarded attorneys fees as well as costs in the pursuit of this matter."

The district court granted Yeadon's motion for summary judgment on the COLA raise issue. The Board was granted summary judgment on the remaining issues, from which Yeadon has not taken an appeal. The Board timely filed its notice of appeal on the COLA raise issue, creating Case No. 97-166. Yeadon also sought to recover attorney fees, which the district court denied. Her appeal from this ruling comprises Case No. 97-167.

DISCUSSION

Mid-Term COLA Raises

Summary judgment is appropriate where there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. W.R.C.P. 56; Terry v. Pioneer Press, Inc., 947 P.2d 273, 275 (Wyo.1997). Since both parties agree that no facts are in dispute, the COLA raise issue presents only a question of law. In such cases, this court conducts a de novo review of the district court's conclusions of law. Anderson v. Bommer, 926 P.2d 959, 961 (Wyo.1996). Here, we are asked to interpret Wyo. Const. Article 3, Section 32. When interpreting a constitutional provision, "[w]e are charged with discerning the intent of the Constitutional Convention, and we look first to the plain and unambiguous language to discern that intent." Management Council of Wyoming Legislature v. Geringer, 953 P.2d 839, 843 (Wyo.1998). "In the case of a constitution, it must be presumed the people have intended whatever has been plainly expressed and that intent must be given effect and enforced." Campbell County School Dist. v. State, 907 P.2d 1238, 1257 (Wyo.1995) (citing Rasmussen v. Baker, 7 Wyo. 117, 128, 50 P. 819, 821 (1897)). Thus, "[i]f the constitutional language is clear and unambiguous, we must accept and apply the plain meaning of that language." Management Council of Wyoming Legislature, 953 P.2d at 843.

Article 3, Section 32 of the Wyoming Constitution provides in pertinent part:

Changing terms and salaries of public officers.

Except as otherwise provided in this constitution, no law shall extend the term of any public officer or increase or diminish his salary or emolument after his election or appointment; ...

The Board contends this section should not be interpreted to prohibit the Board from granting mid-term COLA raises because the raises are a practical and efficient solution to Platte county's funding problem. Also, the Board contends, Platte county officials are otherwise underpaid and the COLA raises are "in proportion to the value of services rendered and the dut[ies] performed." ² Finally, the Board asserts that its members have approached the COLA raise issue in a responsible manner; therefore, none of the evils meant to be prevented by Article 3, Section 32 are present. Yeadon counters that Article 3, Section 32 and the case law interpreting that section clearly prohibit such mid-term salary increases. Further, Yeadon argues that the Board's retained discretion makes possible the very evil meant to be eradicated by the provision.

In interpreting the relevant language of Article 3, Section 32, this court, in Nickerson v. Winslow, 22 Wyo. 259, 268-269, 138 P. 184, 186, reh'g denied 22 Wyo. 259, 140 P. 834 (1914), wrote:

The meaning of this section is clear. There is no ambiguity about it. The words are pointed and direct. They mean just what they say, and construe themselves. When it says that the salary of a public officer shall not be increased or diminished after his election, it means that the salary or compensation for the term to which he was elected shall not be changed after, but becomes fixed as of the date of the election....

In a more recent case interpreting this provision, Barber v. Board of County Comm'rs of Uinta County, 73 Wyo. 222, 233 The simple facts are these: When county officials are elected or enter upon their duties there should be a definite basis according to which their salary is fixed. It should not be left to surmise or conjecture. The board of county commissioners should know what they must pay and the officials are entitled to know what they will receive.

277 P.2d 977, 980-981 (Wyo.1954), this court summarized:

The Board, relying on an Attorney General Opinion 78-12, argues that the COLA raises do not offend the constitution. In that opinion, Wyoming's Attorney General concluded that stepped salary increases for elected officials do not violate Wyoming Constitution Article 3, Section 32. Without deciding the question whether stepped salary increases are permissible, we find that the situation presented here is clearly distinguishable from the question presented in Opinion 78-12. In the case of stepped salary increases, the salaries are fixed at the time the salaries are established (prior to June 1 of an election year). Although the amount of an official's monthly paycheck increases over time, the stepped increases are fixed before election, and payment of the stepped increases is not discretionary.

In Platte County, the county officials' base salaries were fixed prior to the 1994 election. ³ However, the Board retained discretion whether to grant the COLA raises. This discretion included not only whether the raises would be granted, but also when to grant the raises, to whom (as evidenced by the exclusion of the sheriff from the COLA raise), and in what amounts (between zero and eight percent). This retained discretion evokes the concerns discussed in ...