PGCPS Announces Enhancement to Retirement Incentive Eligible applicants may be able to receive $20,000

Last month the Board of Education announced a retirement incentive program that would be made available to employees who qualified for normal service retirement from the Maryland State Retirement System (MSRS). The hope was that this one-time $15,000 incentive would encourage eligible employees to retire and declare their intent to do so early, thus reducing the number of lay-offs the system will have make later in the spring.

While there has been a number of applicants, the BOE is hoping to increase the number . After talks with the County Executive, PGCEA was able to secure targeted one time funding for the incentive program, raising the one-time payout to $20,000 for eligible applicants. The Board of Education approved the change through resolution on Thursday March 24, 2011. These additional funds are contingent upon the receipt of an additional 100 qualifying applications from employees who make at least $75,000 per year.

Because of this change and the need for applicants to apply for a retirement estimate from the MSRS, the new deadline for applying is April 10 @ 11:59 PM. Those employees who have already applied for the retirement incentive pay out, do not need to do anything further as they will already be eligible for the $20,000 payout if the qualifying number of applications are received and approved. No other changes have been made to the program, however it is important to note that all qualifying sick leave will be paid out. The BOE is also establishing a Tax Sheltered Annuity (TSA) that the retirement incentive and sick leave payout could be rolled into, thus saving the employee money on taxes when receiving the payout.

If you have any questions, contact PGCEA at 301-736-2700 You can see the official announcement here