Montgomery County Council President Phil Andrews called for freezing a proposed 10.5 percent pay raise for firefighters and to halt other county employee salary increases as part of a plan to stabilize the cash-strapped county’s budget.
Andrews, D-Gaithersburg/Rockville, told reporters that the county’s various employee unions will need to accept a freeze on both an across-the-board raises and performance-based raises, known as step increases.
“I don’t think there’s any way the county will be able to afford … a general wage increase or step increases,” Andrews said.
The projected budget deficit for next year is $370 million, and salary freezes could save the county between $150 million to $160 million, Andrews said.
Without the cuts, there could be “draconian cuts in services,” Andrews warned.
The county is set to negotiate new contracts with the police union, and county government employee’s union this fall, Andrews said, adding the 10.5 percent raise for the majority of firefighters called for in the current contract between the county and the firefighters union won’t happen.
Union leaders said Andrews spoke out of turn by suggesting a possible outcome before the collective bargaining process, and that it was too early to tell if freezing salaries was necessary.
“He’s trying to judge the outcome before we go there,” said Walter Bader, past president of the Fraternal Order of Police union.
“To poison the collective bargaining environment this early on by making public proclamations … is disrespectful,” said Gino Renne, president of the Municipal and County Government Employees Organization.
Renne added that Andrews’ predictions weren’t necessarily unrealistic, just “inappropriate.”
Last year, County Executive Ike Leggett secured agreements from county unions to freeze across-the-board general wage increases, which saved the county about $120 million.
In doing so, Leggett had to give some concessions to the unions that weren’t approved by the County Council. One concession would have allowed police officers to drive county-owned patrol cars up to 15 miles outside the county’s borders on personal business.
The other concession would have allowed the county to offer buyouts of $40,000 to dozens of county government employees.
Andrews said he hopes Leggett doesn’t agree to similar provisions in order to secure a wage freeze.
