Local governments are tightening their belts. But Montgomery County is going on a spending spree.

 

STATE AND local governments are tightening their belts, having laid off or furloughed hundreds of thousands of workers in the pandemic. Meanwhile, in Maryland’s biggest and wealthiest locality, pro-union officials are lavishing major pay increases on thousands of county employees — with no clear way to pay for them.

Braced for a pandemic-related hit to revenue last spring, Montgomery County lawmakers rejected a package of nearly $30 million in raises for public workers, negotiated by County Executive Marc Elrich (D). Weeks later Mr. Elrich, whose backing from public employee unions was key to his election two years ago, struck a deal with county labor leaders to give emergency pandemic bonuses projected to cost Montgomery $72 million by the end of this year. The bonuses cover nearly two-thirds of the county’s 10,000 employees, including general workers as well as police and firefighters, and are among the most generous in the nation...

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