May 21st, 2013 by WCBC Radio
As the Allegany County Commissioners and Board of Education continue to spar over next years budget- one major point of contention surrounds pension costs. In 2012, the state put the burden of paying retired teachers’ pensions on the localities. Economically distressed counties such as Allegany receive a disparity grant to cover the pension expense. However, according to the school board, due to the way the state computes the disparity grant, last year a pension bill of around $1.4 million received a $1.6 million grant. The board maintains that the difference, $144,364, has been kept by the county and not reinvested in education. School Board vice-president Laurie Marchini was a caller to WCBC’s “Dave Norman Show” Monday and repeated the board’s belief that the county has “pocketed” the money with no thoughts of its impact on the education budget.