MARYLAND - County officials from the lower Eastern shore went to the state capitol to fight a huge change to the teacher pension system --- which could put a lot of pressure on our local governments.
Representatives from all nine counties of the Maryland Eastern Shore faced state legislators in Annapolis Friday to express their discontent over recent proposals involving teacher pensions. Part of Governor Martin O'Malley's budget proposal includes shifting teacher pension costs and making the counties responsible for the cost - and that has many officials up in arms.
"The proposal is to send 50 percent of the cost of the pension system to the county, the state recognizes as currently designed the pension system is unsustainable, but rather than deal with that by itself they're simply passing the buck," said Wicomico County Executive Rick Pollitt. Projections over a five year period would cost the nine counties over $25 million which may force some of them to raise taxes when revenue numbers are down for most counties. Pollitt explained that "the notion of paying more taxes in general is a very difficult challenge."
"I still don't think the citizens of Wicomico County trust government and this is another reason not to trust government when we see the state requiring the taxpayers to pick up their bill," said Wicomico County Councilperson Gail Bartkovich. "County government has no place at the table in deciding what sort of pension benefits are available we don't negotiate the teachers salaries that drive the cost of the pension," Pollitt said. The bill still has a ways to go before it becomes law. MACO - the Maryland Association of Counties - is also lobbying hard against the teacher shift proposal at the state capitol.
Representatives from all nine counties of the Maryland Eastern Shore faced state legislators in Annapolis Friday to express their discontent over recent proposals involving teacher pensions. Part of Governor Martin O'Malley's budget proposal includes shifting teacher pension costs and making the counties responsible for the cost - and that has many officials up in arms.
"The proposal is to send 50 percent of the cost of the pension system to the county, the state recognizes as currently designed the pension system is unsustainable, but rather than deal with that by itself they're simply passing the buck," said Wicomico County Executive Rick Pollitt. Projections over a five year period would cost the nine counties over $25 million which may force some of them to raise taxes when revenue numbers are down for most counties. Pollitt explained that "the notion of paying more taxes in general is a very difficult challenge."
"I still don't think the citizens of Wicomico County trust government and this is another reason not to trust government when we see the state requiring the taxpayers to pick up their bill," said Wicomico County Councilperson Gail Bartkovich. "County government has no place at the table in deciding what sort of pension benefits are available we don't negotiate the teachers salaries that drive the cost of the pension," Pollitt said. The bill still has a ways to go before it becomes law. MACO - the Maryland Association of Counties - is also lobbying hard against the teacher shift proposal at the state capitol.
No comments:
Post a Comment