MoCo Council President: School Employee Pay Is Key To Budget Shortfalls

Council members in Montgomery County will receive more details about a report that outlines why the county continues to have budget problems.

The report shows salaries for county employees have increased 50 percent over the past decade, but benefit packages have risen even more -- to the point the county spends more money on them than actual salaries.

With more than half of the county budget dedicated to its school system, changes in school employee pay will be critical in fixing future budget shortfalls, according to Council President Nancy Floreen.

"We can write them a check for only so much. It's up to them how they allocate those dollars," she says.

Floreen says the county education board, who along with the schools superintendent create the budget request for the school system, will have a simple question to answer:

"Do benefits take priority over class size? That's one of the realities of the conversation they're going to need to have," she says.

The school system will submit its budget request next month.