Montgomery County faces a $41 million burden in the coming fiscal year and even more the following year as a result of Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s plan to shift half the skyrocketing cost of teacher pensions onto local jurisdictions. Montgomery would be on the hook for more than any other county because of the large size of its school system and the high salaries it pays to teachers. Neighboring Prince George’s County would come in second, paying $27.4 million for teacher pensions in fiscal 2013.
| How the teacher pensions would be divvied up | ||
| Region | Extra tax revenue* | Extra cost for pensions |
| Anne Arundel | $10,287,321 | $17,695,439 |
| Baltimore City | $4,013,327 | $15,883,936 |
| Baltimore County | $12,933,534 | $23,786,566 |
| Frederick County | $4,641,068 | $9,185,601 |
| Howard County | $10,694,124 | $16,229,349 |
| Montgomery County | $37,233,303 | $41,189,859 |
| Prince George’s County | $11,669,340 | $27,438,652 |
| Total for Maryland counties | $110,742,603 | $202,217,194 |
| *This includes the last two quarters of fiscal 2012 and all of fiscal 2013. | ||
| Source: MARYLAND GOVERNORS OFFICE | ||
To make the plan — which must be approved by the General Assembly — more palatable to Montgomery and other counties, O’Malley proposes some sweeteners, such as the state picking up half the tab of teachers’ Social Security, which counties currently fund, and some revenue-generating techniques to help the counties pay their share.
But the revenue that would be raised is less than O’Malley’s office claims, Montgomery County officials said Monday.
The largest amount of revenue — $110.7 million statewide — would come from changes to the state income tax that would reduce the amount of tax deductions and exemptions residents earning more than $100,000 can receive.
(1/12/12)
