County raises put on hold until budget shortage is resolved

Unions asked to renegotiate contracts or possibly face layoffs

‘‘Processing of payments at [fiscal] 2009 compensation rates has been deferred until the new fiscal plan is in effect,” Brown wrote in the memo, calling the withheld payments ‘‘necessary to ensure that we are able to provide cost-effective and efficient services to the citizens and residents of Prince George’s County.”

County officials have asked labor unions to renegotiate the contracts the County Council passed this spring and summer, a move the unions have resisted.

Union officials say the county government is trying to force members to give up raises promised in labor contracts.

‘‘It’s going to do the exact opposite,” said Wanda Shelton-Martin, a spokeswoman for the local branch of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which is protesting the withheld funding and represents about 2,900 employees. ‘‘Rather than negotiate, it’s going to force us to file grievances and seek legal remedies.”

The budget shortfall comes from a drastic drop in the real estate market that began in 2006. The county government normally collects a percentage on every home sold, but the sagging market has left the county about $45 million short.

County Council members voted Wednesday to slash $14 million from the county education budget, eliminate a $20 million reserve fund that would have been used to pay police officers for overtime work, and cut an additional $11 million.

But those cuts were only designed to be temporary, said county analysts, who have said they are hoping county workers will forgo $13 million in raises this year.

‘‘A good chunk of it will be allocated back ... as the reductions are negotiated and implemented,” said William Hunt, a member of the county’s office of audits and investigations at a hearing last week.

James Keary, spokesman for County Executive Jack B. Johnson, said negotiating new terms with the unions is important.

‘‘We want to let them decide how they want to do it,” said Keary, adding that officials will consider laying off workers or forcing them to take unpaid leave if they can’t concede on raises. ‘‘We’re being serious here.”

But union leaders say the county was wrong to cut off the raises without consulting labor groups.

‘‘We have a contract in place,” said Vincent Canales, president of the county’s chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, which represents about 1,200 police officers. ‘‘If there was any movement, it should have been done at the negotiating table.”

Canales said the county is leaning on workers to handle the budget shortfall without looking deeper. He said the county could easily make up some of the gaps by scaling back on unfilled positions or other funds that have been allocated but not spent.

‘‘Our membership is clearly upset and disheartened,” Canales said.

County officials have had a hard time winning over the unions in part because of a recent announcement that the county achieved its highest credit rating. In June, officials celebrated when a Wall Street firm gave the county a AAA bond rating, which allows the county to borrow money at a lower percentage rate.

‘‘It’s hard for us to swallow, when just three weeks earlier you were celebrating,” Shelton-Martin said.

She said the county could draw on reserve funds instead of cutting employee pay.

Keary said the reserve can’t be tapped lightly.

‘‘That’s the last place you need to go,” he said.

E-mail Daniel Valentine at dvalentine@gazette.net.