County Workers

The difference in fiscal management between Annapolis and Towson is that while state lawmakers may brag about how they've stopped digging a hole in the budget, Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr. has gone a step further - he has started filling it in. It may not grab headlines, but the $2.53 billion budget Mr. Smith submitted this week is as notable for what it excludes as for what it contains. It doesn't raise the county's property tax rate, and overall spending rises a reasonable 5.8 percent.

Seeking to end unrest among many county workers, Baltimore County elected officials said yesterday that they had settled a dispute between the government and its employees over retirement benefits. The council also adopted a $2.5 billion budget that will not require a tax increase. The council members made minor cuts in the spending plan proposed by County Executive James T. Smith Jr. The retirement issue had become the toughest fiscal decision for the council members in recent weeks.

Howard County executive candidate Dennis R. Schrader is walking, appropriately enough, two steps behind gubernatorial contender Ellen R. Sauerbrey on the campaign trail when the question is posed to him: If he wins two terms as executive, would he seek higher office?The 45-year-old Republican councilman shakes his head, smiles and declares, "No comment, no comment, no comment, no comment," and then with a laugh, "no comment." For a man who told his future wife on their first date that he wanted to be president of the United States someday, it's a coy response.

Angry Baltimore County employees vowed yesterday to wage an aggressive campaign against the Ruppersberger administration's proposal to strip 75 top jobs out of the county's merit system, saying the move is only the latest assault on the system's integrity.Workers say County Executive C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger already has sidestepped the county's laws by replacing merit system workers -- ranging from public works bureau chiefs to code enforcement inspectors -- with so-called part-time appointees.

WAS Parris N. Glendening a prudent chief executive in Prince George's County or did he leave behind a $108 million deficit?Did he shortchange the county's schools, too?Listening to the governor's detractors, you would certainly think so. But a closer examination shows that opponents may be only half-right.Fiscal faultsYes, the record indicates Mr. Glendening planted some fiscal time bombs when he left there for the State House. They indeed exploded after his successor, Wayne K. Curry, took control of that subdivision.

Citizens for Bert Rice will hold fund-raiserCitizens for Bert Rice will hold a fund-raiser at the Odenton Fire Hall Oct. 10 in support of the Republican 4th District County Council incumbent's re-election bid.The Best of the West Party will run from 6: 30 p.m. to midnight and feature a chuck wagon supper, beer, wine, music, dancing and door prizes. The cost is $20 for adults and $10 for children 6-10. Younger children are free.For tickets or information, call Pappu Khera at 410-551-2777.County workers union backs Democrat BurlisonBill Burlison, Rice's Democratic opponent, has won the endorsement of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the union representing county workers.

Baltimore County workers urged the County Council last night to reject a proposed charter amendment that would allow up to 75 top jobs to be removed from the merit system and become political appointments.Ronald E. Harvey, president of the Supervisory Management and Confidential Association, a group of 700 of county government's top bureaucrats, warned the council that "we can amply show that a spoils system already exists."Harvey, who works in personnel, accused the administration of County Executive C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of manipulating the merit system so completely that civil service rules are routinely bypassed.

Howard County employees reacted with anger and confusion yesterday as they grappled with the details of a proposed personnel overhaul that would gradually make them earn less and work more for bosses with broad new powers."

In a move toward election-year labor peace in 1998, Baltimore County Executive C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger has reached tentative agreements with four county employee unions that would include a 3 percent bonus by October and a 3 percent general pay raise in July 1998.But county firefighters -- who last April protested the lack of a pay raise by angrily picketing the executive's annual budget speech -- have yet to agree to the two-year offer, and the union president could not predict the outcome of a ratification vote Friday.

A small group of Baltimore County officials is due to get big raises.In a year when all county employees except police officers will receive 3 percent raises or bonuses, 11 top appointees would see their pay jump from 6 percent to 23 percent under County Executive C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger's proposed budget. Their raises, which come in addition to a 3 percent bonus, would range from $2,400 to $11,500."I want high-quality people managing our departments," Ruppersberger said.In contrast to last year, his moves are not drawing much criticism.

The problem:: What can be done about a tree that pelts the neighborhood with walnuts? The back story:: The gravity definitely works in Lutherville. George Hogan can testify that the forces of nature are in effect in this Baltimore County community, as demonstrated by the black walnuts that fall from a tree adjacent to his property. The tree has been shedding its nuts since he moved into a home in the 1600 block of Division Ave. 37 years ago. But nearly four decades later, it has grown so tall that now the walnuts rain down with a lot of force, Hogan said.

Conference center costing taxpayers I would like to express my concern that during a time of such great financial difficulties, taxpayers are funding a country club for the community college. County workers are facing a pay freeze and furloughs, countless other services are being cut - yet the college is spending $1 million a year on Belmont Conference Center in addition to the $10 million it has already spent. This all comes after the public was assured repeatedly that no tax dollars would be used for Belmont.

They came to the County Council's annual budget hearing directly from their jobs, in work clothes or sporting chartreuse T-shirts printed with "Raise our pay up from the bottom." From the packed auditorium at North Harford High School, county workers waved posters with the same message and applauded loudly for speakers who took up their cause. County Executive David R. Craig has proposed an operating budget of $616,008,031 and a capital budget of $279,813,330 for fiscal year 2009, which begins July 1. The total is about $34 million less than the 2008 fiscal year and one of the leanest budgets in the past decade.

Looking for new ways to trim the fat and boost workers' health, some employers are starting to make overweight employees pay if they don't slim down. Others, citing growing medical costs tied to obesity, are offering fit workers lucrative incentives that shave thousands of dollars a year off health care premiums. In one of the boldest moves yet, an Indiana-based hospital chain said last month that it had decided on the stick rather than the carrot. Starting in 2009, Clarian Health Partners said it will charge employees up to $30 every two weeks unless they meet weight, cholesterol and blood pressure guidelines the company deems healthy.

Seeking to end unrest among many county workers, Baltimore County elected officials said yesterday that they had settled a dispute between the government and its employees over retirement benefits. The council also adopted a $2.5 billion budget that will not require a tax increase. The council members made minor cuts in the spending plan proposed by County Executive James T. Smith Jr. The retirement issue had become the toughest fiscal decision for the council members in recent weeks.

The difference in fiscal management between Annapolis and Towson is that while state lawmakers may brag about how they've stopped digging a hole in the budget, Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr. has gone a step further - he has started filling it in. It may not grab headlines, but the $2.53 billion budget Mr. Smith submitted this week is as notable for what it excludes as for what it contains. It doesn't raise the county's property tax rate, and overall spending rises a reasonable 5.8 percent.

County workers and the leaders of two of their unions packed a Baltimore County Council meeting yesterday to denounce a proposed change in retirement benefits, days before a deadline for the unions to sign labor contracts. Much of the criticism centered on the administration's proposal to force current employees with less than 30 years' service to work until age 65, rather than 60, to receive full retirement benefits. County officials say the change is needed to head off a financial crisis in coming years as more and more employees retire.

Cecil County residents will get their first formal opportunity Wednesday to comment on the county's proposed budget, a spending plan that includes money to hire 54 teachers and four sheriff deputies, a 5 percent pay raise for county workers and a big boost in funds for road repairs. General funds spending, which covers most government expenses, would rise 12.8 percent to $134.6 million during the fiscal year that begins July 1. The only tax increase would be a nearly 25 percent rise in the recordation fee that primarily applies to the purchase of homes and the refinancing of mortgages.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY officials know their scheme to save money on drug benefits for county workers by ordering cheap medicines from Canada is only a short-term fix. They figure they have a year, maybe two, before so many other American communities similarly thumb their noses at federal authorities trying to block these imports that the demand will be too great for Canadian pharmacies to meet. But in the meantime, the county may be able to shave as much as $20 million a year off its $70 million annual tab for employee and retiree pharmaceutical costs.

As he prepares to reveal his next budget tomorrow, Howard County Executive James N. Robey finished one bit of business left from last year - a delayed 2 percent pay raise for 2,000 county workers. Robey announced Friday that he will give county employees the other half of the 4 percent pay raise he announced last April - but only for May and June of this fiscal year, which ends June 30. "You will see this increase as a retroactive lump sum in your check later this summer," Robey said in a letter e-mailed to the employees Friday.