Skeptical Miami-Dade voters rejected a key county charter amendment Tuesday, refusing once again to give county commissioners a hefty pay raise in exchange for term limits.

Voters did, however, approve a measure intended to make it easier for citizens to place charter-amendment initiatives on the county ballot by doubling the number of days to collect petition signatures.

The split results on the two charter amendments — one passing, one failing — reflected some support from a disenchanted Miami-Dade electorate for overhauling county government. Yet deep distrust remains about any move that would raise commissioners’ pay; it was the 13th time in five decades that voters rejected a proposed salary hike.

About 58 percent of voters supported the petition-initiative measure, the county reported. Fifty-four percent opposed the salary and term limits proposal.

All voters, regardless of party affiliation, could cast ballots in the charter election, though the presidential primary contest mostly drew Republicans to the polls. Some voters left the charter questions blank. Of the 161,600 Miami-Dade residents who participated in Tuesday’s election, about 148,700 voted on the charter questions.

The defeat of the salary and term-limits measure was the latest in a string of failed charter-reform attempts since a task force four years ago proposed a slew of changes to the Home Rule charter that governs county government. A restive electorate, unhappy with business as usual at County Hall, has repeatedly viewed the proposals as poorly written or too weak.

“There was just too much ambivalence about these amendments,” said Victor Diaz, a Miami Beach lawyer who chaired the 2008 Charter Review Task Force and supported both proposals.

“There’s still a very strong sentiment against the existing county commissioners and their general job performance. To ask for a salary increase at a time when people are dissatisfied with the job you’re doing is a stretch.”

Most problematic for voters Tuesday was raising commissioners’ salaries to about $92,097 a year from $6,000, a level derived from a population-based state formula.

“I don’t think we should be spending more money supporting these guys,” said Ernie de la Fe, a 58-year-old lawyer from Pinecrest, after voting at a Coral Gables fire station. “They’re not worth very much. For the most part, I don’t see them getting much done.”

On the other side of the issue was Rolando Calzadilla, 42, who rode his bike to the Miami Lakes Branch Library to vote in favor of the salary hike for commissioners.

“If they don’t make a fair amount of money, then they’re more likely to get bribed,” he said.

The same charter amendment would also have banned outside employment and limited commissioners to two, four-year terms — two changes supporters said are crucial for curtailing conflicts of interest and increasing turnover on the commission dais.

“Eight years may be too short, but it’s better than a lifetime,” said Sheri Ball, 51, who voted for the amendment at the Bet Shira Congregation synagogue in Pinecrest. “Plus, if they can give us their full attention, it’s worth the money.”

But most voters felt differently, saying they did not believe commissioners would give up lucrative outside sources of income.