Counties would absorb some retirement costs; Prince George's singled out for disparity-grant reductions

Summary

The governor's budget would shift about $39 million in increased retirement costs to counties, cap community-college growth at 3% through FY29 and reduce disparity grants that most heavily affect Prince George's County; Legislative Services referred members to a county-by-county appendix for details.

Senators asked how the governor's budget changes would affect counties and local institutions.

David Romans said the administration proposes that counties pick up 50% of certain increases in retirement costs for teachers, community-college staff and librarians, totaling roughly $39,000,000. He also described a $27,000,000 cut tied to disparity grants (growth not funded), which Legislative Services said disproportionately affects Prince George's County (about $17.5 million of the total) and Allegheny County (about $6 million).

On community colleges, Romans said the governor would cap growth for individual community colleges at 3% per year through FY29, producing roughly $21,000,000 in savings for the budget. He and senators emphasized that many of these are reductions to expected growth rather than nominal year-over-year decreases.

Committee members asked staff to provide the county breakdown (Romans directed senators to page 56 of the briefing document for the full listing) and to clarify which cuts require statute change versus BRFA action.