Retired Anne Arundel County employees may no longer face reduced pensions when returning to work

The Anne Arundel County Council passed a bill Monday night eliminating reductions in pension to county employees who retire and later return to work for the county.

Introduced by Pete Smith, a Democrat representing Severn, the bill will eliminate reductions to a county employee’s retirement benefits if the person comes back to a different job 90 or more days after retiring.

Under the current county code, benefits for retired county employees who return to government work are reduced by $1 for every $2 earned.

“I’ve always felt like that was something that wasn’t fair to those senior people who invested the majority of their life working for this county,” Smith said. “So if we have a vacancy that we need to fill — and we’ve had trouble filling those — and this person may have a skill set that can meet that need, why should we not extend that opportunity to those senior individuals?

The legislation passed 6-1, with only Council member Lisa Rodvien, a Democrat representing Annapolis, voting no. The bill will go into effect 45 days after County Executive Steuart Pittman signs the bill into law. Pittman has not said if he will sign the bill. A spokesperson did not return a call for comment.

Rodvien argued the bill could allow a county employee to retire and collect a pension while also earning a salary. In turn, the county could lose out on an employee who was needed in that role, she said.

Her amendment would have increased the waiting period between retirement and reemployment to 18 months, but the proposed change was struck down by the other six council members.

“If we’re not looking at retirement as retirement, then I’m not really sure what we’re doing,” Rodvien said. “We tell people it’s a retirement plan … is it a retirement plan or a 30 years of service plan? And I see those two things as different.”

Smith argued against the extended period.

“If we have to wait 18 months to come back to our county, they’re going to go to Howard County, and once they start in Howard County, they’re not coming back,” he said. “After 18 months, they’re set, they’re staying there — they’re not going to quit again and come back to our jurisdiction, so why are we extending it and creating that barrier for them to utilize the people here?”

Anne Arundel County Sheriff Everett Sesker, who has 18 vacancies in his office, said he supports the bill. The sheriff is responsible for providing security in the circuit court and orphans’ court, as well as serving warrants throughout the county.

The bill would limit the time needed for training, he said, and would save the county from paying for health benefits if retired Anne Arundel officers returned to the office as opposed to police officers from different jurisdictions.

“We have to do something now and we cannot wait,” Sesker said. “And if this bill can provide me with experienced personnel that have been trained by the best, then I say I’m all for it.”

Though Nathan Volke, a Republican representing Pasadena, said he often looks at the cost of legislation, Smith’s bill is a step to address the county’s “significant” vacancy rate.

“We are not, through other means, able to address it so far, and this seems like a way to try and get an educated and really dedicated part of the workforce back into our county,” he said.