The Garrett County commissioners joined the Allegany County commissioners at a "Stop the Shift" press conference in Cumberland on Tuesday. About 50 people attended the event, which took place at the Allegany County Office Complex.
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Spearheaded by the Maryland Association of Counties (MACo), similar press conferences took place across the state on Monday and Tuesday to give local leaders an opportunity to voice their concerns about Gov. Martin O'Malley's Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act of 2012 (BRFA).
The House Appropriations Committee, House Ways and Means Committee, and the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee held public hearings in Annapolis this week on BRFA.
A major component of the budget that concerns MACo is the governor's proposal to "shift" teacher pension liability from the state to county governments. Effective July 1, 2013, jurisdictions would pay for half of the combined cost of teachers' Social Security and pension costs. Currently, counties only pay for the Social Security portion, which is about one-third of the total pension cost.
"Counties are maxed out," Commissioner Jim Raley said at the Cumberland conference. "Enough is enough. Citizens, please get involved in this issue. It is critical, as if the pension shift occurs, it will certainly cut jobs, close schools, and devastate communities."
Raley noted that last year Garrett County "absorbed" a state cut of approximately $1.5 million to education, thus placing the local appropriation higher than the state appropriation for the first time ever.
"The $1.7 million that Garrett County contributed last year allowed for the schools to continue to operate and work toward a solution to this ongoing problem," Raley said. "This year, our loss will be approximately $2.7 million in state aid to education and, coupled with the county loss of revenue of approximately $2 million and a potential of having to absorb pensions for education employees, creates a large budget shortfall. In the current year, Garrett County government is contributing $850,000 over maintenance of effort to our schools."
According to Del. Wendell Beitzel, the governor's proposed budget includes certain offsets to the teacher retirement shift by way of a disparity grant; however, the total shift for FY 2013 alone would cost Garrett County government $276,240 and Allegany County $554,075.
"The disparity grant is set to expire, and then the local jurisdictions have the entire burden," Betizel noted in his weekly e-mail to constituents.
More here.
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