A Montgomery County Circuit Court judge on Tuesday reversed a ruling that County Executive Ike Leggett broke the law when he proposed cutting employee benefits in his budget plan for the coming year. Judge Ronald B. Rubin said the county executive did not have to fully fund the collective bargaining agreement with the county’s unionized workers, in effect reversing a decision by a labor relations administrator, because the county executive has the authority to craft a budget.
The Montgomery County Council, which has the final say on the budget, last month approved a plan that cuts health and pension benefits for county employees, though not as drastically as Leggett’s proposal. His budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 would have cost workers between $370 and $3,700 annually, officials said.
Still, the battle between the employees unions and lawmakers is heating up as the county realizes it no longer can afford the generous benefits given to employees.
On April 29, a county labor relations administrator said Leggett had to revise his budget proposal, which broke the labor agreement with the 8,000-worker Montgomery County Government Employees Union by taking away funding for health and pension benefits for workers as Leggett tried to fill a $300 million shortfall without slashing public services.
County lawyers appealed, saying the decision improperly gave Leggett’s responsibilities to an arbitrator.
Rubin on Tuesday ruled that Leggett did not commit “prohibited practice” because the Montgomery County Charter was not clear.
“He ruled that there was not sufficient language to overcome the executive’s authority to recommend an operating budget,” said Edward Lattner, who represented the union. “But that was consistent,” referring to decisions in similar county disputes with the police and fire unions in which the arbitrators ruled that Leggett had the power to cut benefits.
Leggett’s lawyers noted that a labor relations administrator had given the county executive broad authority to craft a budget proposal in a 2009 ruling because of a disconnect between the collective bargaining agreement and the county charter.
