A bill currently working its way through the state senate could have a drastic effect on Kent County’s education budget for years to come.
The county commissioners voiced their dismay Tuesday over this latest whack at state funds that Kent counts on.
Senate Bill 959 would shift pension costs for board of education, library, and community college employees off the state and onto the counties. The state currently spends about $900 million a year on teachers’ pensions. This legislation would save the state $330 million by 2014 — but by dumping it on local governments.
The bill, if passed, would not go into effect until Fiscal Year 2012, when counties would have to cover 1 percent of employees’ salary. In FY 2013 the local share increases to 3 percent and to 5 percent in FY 2015. In the end, the shares covered by the state and county governments, including the cost of Social Security which is currently covered by the county, would be relatively equal. After FY 2015, it would be required that pension funding be split 50/50.
For Kent County this would mean an additional $172,000 taken out of the education budget for FY 2012 and just under $1 million in FY 2015, not including pay raises or salary increases.
The commissioners have already told the county Board of Education that they can not afford to fund more than the state required Maintenance of Effort, meaning the BOE is getting, at most, the same amount of money that they received last year. If the pension changes go into effect the money will have to come out of the education budget, Commissioner William Pickrum explained at Tuesday’s meeting. This means doing more with less.
“Almost every week when you come in here there’s another letter (from the state) saying we’re handing something back to you,” Commissioner Ron Fithian said.
The bill will be heard before the Senate first and then moved to the House for consideration.
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