The Montgomery County Council will reject a proposal from County Executive Ike Leggett that would slash employee benefits but will also reject a union-friendly decision to leave the perks largely unchanged, a council panel said Thursday.
The council’s Government Operations and Fiscal Policy Committee unanimously voted against both plans, meaning their final solution will likely fall somewhere in the middle of the two camps.
Council staff is hashing out a proposal to be completed next week. The full County Council will review the union agreements Monday.
Whatever health benefit changes are approved, they won’t go into effect until January, council members said Thursday. Leggett proposed implementing the reductions July 1.
Under Leggett’s budget, general government employees would pay 2 percent more of their salaries for pension benefits and the county would cover 70 percent instead of 80 percent of the cost of health care plans.
In making the proposal, Leggett ignored the legally binding decision of an arbitrator, citing the massive shortfall.
Union proposals – which have the backing of an arbitrator — would have left retirement and health benefits mostly unchanged, aside from one-time savings proposed by the Municipal and County Government Employees Organization.
After the council formally rejects the agreements, the three camps will return to the bargaining table to negotiate different provisions.
