Gazette: Combined retiree health obligations top $3B for schools

In state's three largest systems, cost surpasses utilities, textbooks, administrator salaries

by Andrew Ujifusa | Staff Writer

Retiree benefits for health care alone are likely to cost Montgomery County Public Schools $1.56 billion in the foreseeable future, an increase of $200 million from projections two years ago, according to a consultant's analysis in February. 

The annual contribution from the school system required to pay for those benefits during three decades is projected to be $156 million for fiscal 2012, an increase of $25 million from fiscal 2010, Washington, D.C.-based Mercer consultants said in their analysis.

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