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Montgomery Council to Receive Briefing, Followed by News Conference, On Efforts to Stop Shift of Teacher Pension Costs On Tuesday, Feb. 28

Release ID: 12-031
Release Date: 2/24/2012
Contact: Neil Greenberger 240-777-7939 or Delphine Harriston240-777-7931
From: Council Office

ROCKVILLE, Md., February 24, 2012—The Montgomery County Council at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28, will receive a briefing on the impact on the County if the Maryland General Assembly approves Governor Martin O’Malley’s proposal to shift half the cost of teacher and other pensions from the state to the counties. Immediately following the briefing, stakeholders from around the County will participate in a news conference pledging that their organizations are aligned in urging the General Assembly to stop the pension shift.

The briefing will conclude the morning portion of the Council’s regular Tuesday session, which will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the Third Floor Council Hearing Room of the Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville. The news conference will be held in the Council Hearing Room shortly after the end of the Council session. The session and the news conference will both be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM—Cable Channel 6 on Comcast and RCN, Channel 30 on Verizon). The broadcast also will be available via streaming through the County Web site at www.montgomerycountymd.gov. It will be rebroadcast on Friday, March 2, starting at 9 p.m.

At the Council session and news conference, advocates for County organizations and services will outline the serious damage that would result from the pension shift. In a statement released yesterday, the Council said: “The recessionary County budgets of the past three years required painful cuts that have seriously affected our residents and employees alike. For the coming year we face a further budget gap of $135 million and more hard decisions. If we now have to absorb another large burden from the state, there will be real damage to all our vital services—our schools, college, police, fire and rescue, safety net, libraries, parks, housing, transportation, recreation, and many others.”

For Montgomery County, the proposed pension shift would cost $47 million in Fiscal Year 2013 and $315 million over the next five years. “The measures proposed to help counties pay the cost are inadequate and may not be enacted in any event,” the Council said.

The Council also is urging residents to go to the “Stop the Shift” web site at www.stoptheshiftmd.com/ to learn more about the issue—and how they can get involved in this critical quality of life issue for our County.

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Last edited: 12/23/2009