QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“It’s atrocious what the state is doing.”
Commissioner Evan Slaughenhoupt, criticizing the Maryland General Assembly and the O’Malley Administration for forcing jurisdictions to spend more money on education.
Despite protestations from Maryland’s local jurisdictions, an official from the organization representing the counties predicted March 20 that two initiatives before the state legislature—shifting funding responsibilities for teachers’ pensions and increasing maintenance of effort (MOE) requirements—will pass during the General Assembly’s 2012 session.
Maryland Association of Counties (MACo) Executive Director Michael Sanderson delivered the gloomy news to the Calvert County Commissioners during the panel’s Tuesday, March 20 meeting.
Association President Ingrid Turner told the board “it’s not looking good” for changing the legislators’ minds about the funding shift.
“The debate is not if, it’s how much,” said Sanderson of the plan to shift responsibilities for the teachers’ pension fund. He explained the Maryland Senate’s current proposal would have school boards paying the “normal cost” of retirement, phased in over four years with concurrent county-paid MOE increases. Sanderson explained the normal cost “reflects the current cost of retirement for active employees, which does not include unfunded, accrued liabilities. The normal cost’s dollar value grows primarily by the growth in salaries and the number of teachers employed. Required maintenance of effort paid by counties increases each year by additional pension costs during the phase-in period.”
Sanderson said the state would continue to be responsible for payment of unfunded accrued liabilities and reinvestment, as well as a portion of the normal cost and any costs above the estimates during the phase-in period.
