From Ann Miller, Examiner.com:
The Baltimore County Council held a public input hearing following their weekly legislative session Monday evening. Among the topics was reform of the pension received by county council members. For more information on this controversy, click here.
Testimony made by 21 county citizens included a broad range of points, suggestions for reform, and objections to the current policy. But one message was loud and clear: irresponsible spending by elected representatives has a way of coming back to bite you.
“I do think that what you are hearing is a call to understand what the people…are going through at this period in time,” said Jack Gordon of Lutherville.
“Why is it that the county council can afford lavish, gold-plated, and….highly inappropriate pensions for itself when our government simply cannot afford air conditioning at Ridgely Middle School?” asked Steve Kolbe of Towson.
Steve Bailey, co-chair of Americans For Prosperity, said, “It’s a pension plan that you were aware of at various times when you voted on increases that came before the county council. It’s a pension plan that I urge you not to pass on to the next county council.”
Candidate for county council Steve Whisler testified, “It is unfair, hypocritical and fiscally irresponsible. It is hypocritical for the County Executive and members on the council to ask county servants to make sacrifices with little or no annual cost of living increases and the possibility of furloughs while elected officials do not reform a pension plan that is out of touch with the rest of society.”
Rani Merryman of Perry Hall said, “I believe last year the taxpayers were responsible for over $60 million that went into that fund. And this year, it is expected to be over $80 million dollars that will be required to put into that fund to keep it stable. If you look at just this year’s expected contribution, we could have fully funded that high school in Perry Hall that we have been fighting for for almost a decade.”
Mike Esteve of Baltimore said, “My father served over 30 years in the United States Army in the Airborne. Military servicemen, police officers, firemen, individuals who use their careers and their lives to protect the lives of others, do not retire with more than 50 percent of their pension.”
“I’m one of those people who spent 34 years in Uncle Sam’s canoe club. Guess what? I don’t get a disability payment, they take it out of my pay and give it to me through the Veterans Administration so I don’t have to pay taxes on it. That’s a retirement plan.… There needs to be a provision in whatever is conjured up to repair this damage, that we who employ you get to have a say in how much we pay you… It’s too much for what we get,” said Harry Korrell of Catonsville.
John White of Middle River said, “I am a retired Baltimore County Firefighter… One thing that people are probably not aware of is the Windfall Act on the Social Security benefits for firefighters and police officers. They take up to $345 off of our pensions if we file for social security we are eligible for from whatever part time jobs we paid in. We put in about 62 hours per week for 20 years and retire with half pay.”
One of the points I made in my testimony was that the majority of the members on the council have had four to five terms to reform the pension plan and have failed to do so.
Joe Seehusen, co-chair of Americans For Prosperity, said, “We have a thousand members of AFP here in Baltimore County and they have expressed to us a great deal of concern about what we believe is an extraordinary salaried pension for part time work done for the county council….You receive a 100 percent pension for life starting at a premature age of 55. Most people have to wait until 62 or 66 years of age.”
“People are noticing now that they are losing money from every which way, and elected officials are somewhat immune to the pressures that the average citizen is facing… Coming up, as we have higher and higher deficits, we expect our leaders to not have pension plans that the average citizen will never see,” said Katie Schmitz of Phoenix.
For More Information:
Email or call the county council members with your comments on their pension plan. Contact info is posted to the right of my column.
