Elrich unhappy with changes to county pension system, but won’t veto them
Bill passed unanimously by council transfers key responsibilities to volunteer Board of Investment Trustees
By
Ceoli JacobyApril 3, 2026 11:10 a.m.
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Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich (D) this week said he will not veto a bill that transfers key responsibilities for managing the county’s pension system from the chief administrative officer to a volunteer board — despite his concerns about its implications.
In a Monday memo to County Council President Natali Fani-González (D-Dist. 6), Elrich said the council “is trying to fix something that isn’t broken and, in doing so, is breaking something that has worked exceptionally well.”
Pension benefits for retired county government employees are overseen by the 13-member volunteer Board of Investment Trustees in collaboration with the chief administrative officer.
The Board of Investment Trustees is managed on a day-to-day basis by an executive director, who has historically been appointed and supervised by the county’s chief administrative officer.
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A second volunteer board, the Consolidated Retiree Health Benefits Trust Board of Trustees, oversees other post-employment benefits for retired county government employees as well as for Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) and Montgomery College retirees.
Last month, the council voted to pass Bill 28-24, which among other changes gives the Board of Investment Trustees the power to hire and fire its executive director under the county’s merit system. The chief administrative officer would still be responsible for recruitment and identifying qualified candidates for the role.
Currently, the chief administrative officer is also responsible for selecting an actuary for the county pension system and setting the variables used to determine the county’s annual contribution to the pension fund.
Rich Madaleno, the county’s current chief administrative officer, told Bethesda Today on Thursday that key variables impacting the county’s annual contribution include projected cost-of-living increases, inflation over time and life expectancies of various employee groups.
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Under Bill 28-24, those responsibilities would also shift to the Board of Investment Trustees, according to a council staff report.
“We are moving from having the concentration of decision-making in the hands of one person to expanding it to the board to benefit us with increased transparency, accountability, and so that we can benefit from the expertise and professional experience of all the board members,” Councilmember Kate Stewart (D-Dist. 4) said before the March 17 vote on the bill.
The council vote to adopt the bill was unanimous except for Vice President Marilyn Balcombe (D-Dist. 2), who was absent from the March 17 meeting.
The council rejected a number of amendments to the bill proposed by Elrich that would have kept more responsibilities with the chief administrative officer. The bill became law without Elrich’s signature. The county executive has 10 days after the passage of a bill to approve or veto it.
Differing perspectives
Three unions representing the county’s police officers, career firefighters and non-uniformed county government employees, respectively, supported the proposed changes.
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In a joint statement on Jan. 26, the groups wrote that keeping key responsibilities with the chief administrative officer “creates an unacceptable risk of a conflict of interest between the temporary political demands [of] the County, and the need to ensure that the plan is appropriately funded in order to meet its long-term obligations to the County employees.”
According to Madaleno, most current employees who are eligible for county pensions are in the public safety sector. Others, including many MCPS and Montgomery College employees, participate in the state pension system.
Elrich and other opponents of Bill 28-24 — including the Montgomery County Retired Employees Association and the MCPS Retirees Association — argue that actuarial and other consequential decisions should be made by the county, rather than by volunteer board members.
In a Jan. 27 letter to the council, the Montgomery County Retired Employees Association wrote that members of the Board of Investment Trustees recognize that they “are not actuarial experts.” Instead of shifting more responsibility to the board, the association said the council should support shared responsibility with the county’s chief administrative officer.
Elrich in his memo wrote that shifting responsibilities away from the chief administrative officer “could jeopardize the county’s AAA bond rating, driving up costs for future capital bonds and financial services that taxpayers will ultimately bear.”
Asked for comment on Elrich’s memo, Fani-González on Thursday told Bethesda Today that the council’s decision on Bill 28-24 “brings greater accountability into key decisions” impacting the county’s pension system.
“The County Executive and Council still have oversight of the Board of Investment Trustees as the [county executive] appoints them subject to council confirmation,” Fani-González said.
Despite his concerns about the implications of Bill 28-24, Elrich indicated in his memo Monday that he would not veto it because it had the council’s unanimous support. Only seven votes are needed for the 11-member council to override a veto from the county executive.
“Unfortunately, the full impact of this decision may not be apparent for years,” Elrich wrote in the memo. “I remain hopeful that future policymakers will take a closer look at what has been changed and why it matters.”
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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine