Payroll Issues Affecting PGCPS Employees
In Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS), some educators and support staff have been reporting complaints regarding their paychecks. While some employees are getting too much and facing wage garnishments later, others are not receiving their checks or reimbursements in full.
After some PGCPS employees accidentally received double their pay and adamantly attempted to return the excess, the additional funds are now being deducted from their current paychecks. They are even facing the deduction of their gross pay, rather than post-tax pay. This is reducing each paycheck received by affected individuals by $200.
“When I emailed payroll questioning the double payment, I was told that my payment was correct,” said Terita McCoy, who works in the school system’s security division. She and a supervisor, Stanley Brown, both reported issues with their payment last summer.
“I know that it was not correct, so I emailed them several times,” she continued. “I reached out via the phone and said ‘Hey, do you know what’s going on?’”
Other PGCPS employees have alleged underpayment and unnecessary delays in receiving tuition reimbursement.
“There are extremely long delays in processing that movement on the salary scale. It takes another five payroll cycles. So that’s about 10 weeks to get the retroactive pay from the delay in processing,” said Prince George’s County Educators Association (PGCEA) President Dr. Donna Christy in response to the ongoing issues.
PGCPS CEO Dr. Millard House II and Board of Education members have spoken against a proposed budgetary measure that would, in effect, count additional Prince George’s County revenues as prior investments into education. This move would reduce the amount of new funding that must be provided to education and House warned that it could potentially cost hundreds of jobs.
We have previously covered PGCPS budget issues; read more here.
Tax Assessment Delays Potentially Threaten Local Budgets
Following a mixup with mail at Maryland’s State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT), local governments are facing a potential loss to their property tax revenues to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Roughly 107,000 updated property tax assessments were not mailed before a deadline.
State legislative leaders including Senate Budget and Tax Chair Guy Guzzone (D-District 13) and House Ways and Means Chair Vanessa Atterbeary (D-District 13) have expressed concern over the potential consequences this could have, particularly while the state and numerous counties are already facing budget crunches.
“We haven’t gotten to the absolute details yet,” said Guzzone. “We know it exists. We know there was a mistake made. We know that it’s significant. We rely on the assessments to be accurate and in all cases, right. And so they need to be accurate, period.”
Legislators are scrambling for fixes to this extremely unusual issue. Guzzone suggested adjusting the term “taxpayer” under property tax assessments, while Atterbeary proposed extending the assessment deadline.
Maryland State Senate President William Ferguson (D-District 46) said it is important to hold SDAT Chair Michael Higgs, originally appointed by former Gov. Larry Hogan (R) in 2016, accountable.
“To me, if you’re the head of an agency, it’s your responsibility to make sure that the responsibilities of that agency are executed effectively,” Ferguson said last week. “I don’t want to prejudge the situation. From what I know, it’s pretty disappointing. And as I learned more, I think there would have to be accountability if it continues to be clear that there was negligence.”
Higgs explained how the error occurred.
“SDAT utilizes the services of the State’s preferred vendor, the League for People with Disabilities, for the printing and mailing of these reassessment notices, which are typically sent in the final days of December each year,” said Higgs. “This year, SDAT learned of an error in the League’s process that resulted in approximately 107,000 notices not being sent. The League has since resolved the error and the missed recipients will receive notices in the coming weeks.”
Maryland Community Health Resources Commission Provides Behavioral Health Grants
The Maryland Community Health Resources Commission is awarding over $110 million to behavioral health providers for families and their children.
This funding comes after more than 258 requests for nearly $380 million, is being provided by the Blueprint for Education, and was selected by the Consortium on Coordinated Community Supports, who are responsible for establishing a statewide framework for behavioral health.
Nineteen grants, totaling nearly $25 million in awarded funding, were awarded for community health efforts in Prince George’s County. Further, $1.6 million of that grant funding is going to Luminis Health Doctors Community Medical Center, who have cited six local schools as priority locations. These six schools are: Riverdale Park’s Parkdale High School, Lanham’s DuVal High School, Greenbelt’s Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Hyattsville’s Northwestern High School, Bowie High School, and Laurel’s Chesapeake Math and IT Academy North High School
“Our mental health matters, and today’s teenagers are grappling with a mental health crisis of unprecedented proportions,” said Dr. Aliya Jones, Luminis Health’s executive medical director of Behavioral Health. “By partnering with school counselors, teachers, parents and students, we can build strong bonds and connect with teenagers, fostering an environment of support for their mental health well-being and facilitating their growth.”
