Tuesday, September 11, 2012
County Administrative Officer Fred Homan asks to fund pension liabilities with $255 million in debt.
Baltimore County officials are asking the County Council to approve the issuance of $255 million in bonds to fund the pension system. County Administrative Officer Fred Homan told the council during a Tuesday lunch briefing that he wants to use the money to invest in the pension system. "There are market risks to a pension bond deal," Homan said, adding that the risk is not achieving the 4.25 to 4.5 percent rate of interest the county believes the bonds will sell for. Currently, the nearly $2 billion pension system is funded at nearly 77 percent. Homan said the move is expected to lower long-term pension system costs over the next 30 years. The request will be part of a two-bill package introduced Monday night with a vote expected in …
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Expert: "To be in denial, and say you’re ahead of the curve and that you’re in good shape and will stay in good shape is just ignoring reality."
UPDATE (9:10 a.m.)—The board that governs the pension plan for Baltimore County employees is lowering its official expectations on annual investments made by the retirement system. The eight-member board Tuesday unanimously approved a decrease in the assumed annual investment earnings rate by more than six-tenths of a percent to 7.25 percent. The rate is used to determine the county's level of funding for the nearly $2 billion pension system each year. The change means the county will have to come up with an additional $15 million in pension contributions beginning next July 1. The board’s action Tuesday is the first time the rate has been changed since it was set in 1993, according to a report by the Baltimore County Auditor’s office …
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Union leaders call ballot question a "citizens' initiative."
County Executive Jim Smith is urging voters in next week's election to defeat a ballot initiative that would allow unions representing general county employees to use binding arbitration for salary and other disputes. In a press release Thursday, Smith said the initiative, called Question A, would "diminish the authority of the county executive to submit a fiscally responsible budget by authorizing a third party arbitrator to determine employee salary increases and other employment issues." If approved by voters on Nov. 2, the proposed change to Baltimore County's charter would allow unions representing general county employees—not police officers, firefighters and teachers—to seek binding arbitration for disputes including public safety …
Tim
1:36 pm on Friday, September 14, 2012
BlutAusNord: Fair concerns. I do support several major Democrat 'planks', and I support some Republican ones as well that liberals generally can't (or refuse) to see reason on. I'm not a fan of this reckless spending, nor am I a fan of QE3, which isn't going to help anything imho. It's only the Fed panicking, and it's only going to make matters worse for this country going forward. Printing more … more ›