Baltimore County Councilman Wade Kach’s announcement that he will retire in 2026 moved him one step further toward leaving county government with a strikingly hefty pension – an exit strategy he helped engineer for himself and his colleagues.

Kach, who is 77, served in the Maryland House of Delegates for 40 years. He then won election to the Council’s 3rd district in 2014 and has been reelected twice.

Last May, the Republican introduced a bill that changed the way pension benefits are calculated for retired council members.

No longer would retired lawmakers receive the same cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) awarded to other county government retirees, which have been small in size and infrequent in delivery.

Instead, his bill carved out a special exception for retired council members, linking their pensions to the salary increases of future lawmakers.

Specifically, the pension of a retired member would be recalculated upward each time the pay of active council members is increased, with the new salary for active members used to calculate the amount of the retiree’s pension.

Previous legislation made this leap in pensions possible.

In April 2023, the council quietly passed, and County Executive Johnny Olszewski signed, a measure increasing the salary of future lawmakers to a minimum of $78,000 a year and a maximum of $115,000 – as opposed to $69,000 at present.

Through such means, Kach’s pension upon retirement in 2026 would increase by 13% if future council salaries are raised to $78,000 and fully 67% if yearly salaries increase to $115,000.

Question A on next month’s ballot will turn membership on the County Council into full-time positions.

The higher figure is likely as long as county voters approve “Question A” in next month’s general election.

Increasing the size of the council from seven to nine members is the amendment’s most discussed change, which appears to have widespread public support.

But the charter language also includes the provision that “membership on the council” will henceforth become “a full-time position for purposes of determining compensation.”

Full-time lawmakers will add political pressure to the notion that council salaries should reflect the same full-time status and be adjusted to $100,000 or more.

All of which should fall into place when Kach retires in December 2026.

He gains the fruits of higher council salaries – and the added bonus that his pension would be recalculated upward whenever the council votes to approve a salary increase for next-term members.

No Questions Asked

Kach has defended the pension change as simply following the practice of the Maryland General Assembly.

“This is the way most of the retirement systems of legislatures are done. The [Maryland] legislature is that way and works pretty well,” he explained in a bill presentation before the council that lasted 80 seconds. No questions were asked by his colleagues.

What Kach failed to mention is that salary increases for county lawmakers have outstripped the increases for state legislators in recent years, and the benefit accrual rate in the state’s plan is 3%, while the county’s rate is 5%, which is exceedingly high for a pension system.

Outside of Kach, four other lawmakers will likely benefit from the adjusted pension plan when they retire – Todd K. Crandell (R, 7th), Julian E. Jones Jr. (D, 4th), David Marks (R, 5th) and chairman Izzy Patoka (D, 2nd).

All of them voted for the plan last June.

As for Kach, four decades as a part-time legislator in Annapolis means that he currently gets a monthly pension from the state.

He also draws a pension from Baltimore County Schools, where he taught math for more than two decades before moving to the audit office.

PRIOR BREW ARTICLES:

• County Councilman Wade Kach is angling to give himself and his colleagues a 13% raise when they retire (5/30/24)

• Before the Baltimore County Council tonight, a vote to enrich its members’ pensions (6/3/24)

• Pension boost for Baltimore Council Council members by Wade Kach is approved by his colleagues (6/4/24)