Baltimore County Council moves to repeal pension recalculation law tied to future pay increases

Proposed rollback targets 2024 law that can raise retired council members’ benefits after they leave office

Baltimore County Council members are moving to undo a 2024 change to the county’s retirement code that allows certain former council members to have their pension benefits recalculated when pay for sitting council members rises.

The renewed scrutiny comes as Baltimore County prepares for major turnover on the nine-member council after the 2026 elections and as several sitting council members campaign for county executive. The pension issue has also become entangled with a separate debate over whether the council should be treated as a full-time body for compensation purposes.

What Bill 40-24 changed

The pension provision at the center of the repeal effort is Council Bill 40-24, introduced in May 2024. The measure amended Baltimore County Code § 5-1-237(b), which governs retirement allowances for the county executive and county council members.

Under the law, a council member’s service retirement allowance is generally calculated using a fraction of the member’s “average final compensation” multiplied by years of service, with caps based on service length. Bill 40-24 added a mechanism that requires a recalculation for certain retirees when compensation for current council members changes under the county’s compensation-setting process.

• For former council chairs, the recalculation is tied to changes in the chair’s compensation.
• For other former council members, the recalculation is tied to changes in a council member’s compensation.
• The recalculation provision applies to members who retire on or after Jan. 1, 2025, with the recalculation required within 30 days of a qualifying pay change.

The bill also created a tradeoff: retirees who receive the recalculation are not eligible for cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) to their retirement allowance. Separate language confirms that retirees who do not receive that recalculation may be eligible for permitted COLAs.

Why the issue resurfaced in 2026

County lawmakers held public hearings this week on legislation that would lower or reverse the pension effects of Bill 40-24. The hearings occurred amid broader discussion of compensation for council members in the next term and the potential downstream effects on pension calculations.

One factor in the debate is a voter-approved 2024 charter amendment that expanded the council from seven to nine seats and states that council membership is considered a full-time position for purposes of determining compensation. In parallel, county leaders are weighing compensation recommendations expected to be considered later in 2026 for the post-election period.

What happens next

The council is expected to take up a vote on repeal legislation on March 16, 2026. A separate proposal connected to the compensation structure for council service is scheduled for council consideration on April 6, 2026.

If enacted, repeal would remove the pension recalculation pathway that links former members’ benefits to salary changes for sitting council members.

Any final changes will depend on the council’s legislative votes and on subsequent decisions regarding compensation levels for the next term.