Pension System

The Tuscarora School Board on Monday approved a $33 million budget that makes no significant changes to operations, but includes a property tax hike to combat increased contributions to the state pension system. The school board approved a 2-mill tax increase that will cost the average homeowner an additional $37 a year. Tuscarora Business Manager Eric Holtzman said the majority of the tax increase is needed for payments into the Public School Employees' Retirement System, commonly referred to as PSERS.

tammyb@herald-mail.com HAGERSTOWN - Washington County school system officials are feeling a little squeezed. Meeting with members of the Washington County Delegation to the General Assembly on Tuesday, county Board of Education members and administrators told the lawmakers that demands placed on the school system both by development and federal mandates under the No Child Left Behind Act are making life difficult for county educators....

Stadium funding faces opponents By GUY FLETCHER Staff Writer The chances of winning state funding for a new stadium for the Hagerstown Suns are fading, at least during the upcoming General Assembly session, area lawmakers said Thursday. Members of Washington County's legislative delegation said that without a firm proposal from local officials, they would be unable to seek stadium funding when the General Assembly begins its annual session Jan. 14. "I don't think the General Assembly is willing to entertain any kind of legislation unless that kind of (local)

karenh@herald-mail.com Washington County Public Schools have put in place some of the recommendations made by a commission established by Gov. Robert Ehrlich to improve education, school officials said. In its report, the Governor's Commission on Quality Education detailed 30 recommendations after hearing from more than 200 parents, students, school staff and other citizens at seven public hearings in the state. The recommendations include changing the way teachers' salaries and pensions are figured, encouraging parent involvement, and possibly altering the length of the school day or school year.

The latest foul-up with Maryland's pension system ought to give the legislature a clue: It's time to fire somebody. Lawmakers are blaming the mistake, which could cost the state $80 million a year, on the state's actuarial consultant. But somebody on the state payroll should have double-checked the consultant's work. It's time to dismiss whoever was asleep at the switch, because the state will be paying for this blunder well into the next century. According to an Associated Press report, there are two problems.

Though it was only released a short time ago, Washington County school officials say they have already implemented some of the reforms sought by the education reform commission chaired by Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. But teacher pensions - the issue nearest and dearest to many teachers' hearts - will need action from the Maryland General Assembly. How bad is the current system? The worst in the nation, according to the Maryland State Teachers Association. That's a stance you might expect MSTA to take, but House Speaker Michael Busch endorsed that view in a Sunday interview on Maryland Public Television.

A Republican candidate for state treasurer visited Franklin County, Pa., on Thursday to meet with government leaders and later stopped by the Shippensburg (Pa.) Fair. Diana Irey Vaughan has been a county commissioner in Washington County, Pa., for 17 years. She said she wants to bring successful techniques from her home county to the state. Irey Vaughan, who talked with reporters after meeting with Franklin County Treasurer Dave Secor, said she also is learning about financial practices used in other states.

Bob Maginnis Editor of The Herald-Mail's Opinion page If you're not worried about the recent revelations that Hagerstown is in hock to the state pension fund for $9.9 million, you ought to be, for two reasons. Beginning in 1981, your city government spent a ton of its time and money fighting to get this issue straightened out. For example, if the city government not been preoccupied with this issue, the fairgrounds might have been developedsooner, and at a much lower cost.

An international investment advisory company that reviewed all states' employee pension plans found West Virginia's plans have the nation's worst assets-to-liabilities ratio. To pay employees what they've been promised, the hard choices will be to either raises taxes or slash services. Wilshire Associates, a Los Angeles-based firm, last month found that West Virginia pension plans for teachers and public employees were $4.6 billion short of what's needed for future pension payments - about half what's need for current and future benefits.

By CLYDE FORD Staff Writer, Charles Town SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - As West Virginia Gov. Cecil Underwood recently toured the new science center at Shepherd College, he told how much more money would be available if the state did not have to spend nearly $315 million a year on the pension system. For a while during the recent tour, he made his visit a campaign stop for Amendment 1. A special statewide election is being held Saturday, Sept. 27 for West Virginians to decide whether or not to allow the state to invest pension funds in the stock market.