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Tension Between Board of Education and Allegany County Continues

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.





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