Nearly one-third of Montgomery County employees awarded disability since 2005 — including almost half of such firefighters — began banking the taxpayer-funded payments at the time they qualified for normal retirement, The Washington Examiner has learned.

Records from the county’s Office of Human Resources reveal a flurry of disability claims coinciding with retirement eligibility, particularly among public safety workers, and provide ammunition for critics who say employees are using a lax disability system to enhance their retirement packages.