Puffed-Up Pensions

Too many Montgomery officers get disability benefits when they retire.

AREPORT showing that more than 60 percent of Montgomery County police officers who retired during the past four years are receiving disability benefits confirms that the county's disability retirement program is in need of repair. Few dispute the need for reform, but county officials are already clashing over what changes to make and how fast to make them. Two County Council members, Phil Andrews (D-Gaithersburg-Rockville) and Duchy Trachtenberg (D-At Large), are working to introduce legislation that would revamp how officers claim disability benefits. County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) has urged caution, warning the council against legislating a change without examining the program thoroughly. Mr. Andrews and Ms. Trachtenberg are on the right track. Swift action is needed to restore confidence in the program and curb excess benefits.

The report, released last week by county Inspector General Thomas J. Dagley, found police conduct that a "prudent person would consider abusive." Officers can claim payments for an injury that happened years earlier. Even officers who were fired for committing crimes can collect money. There's a strong incentive for officers to claim injury: On disability, officers receive two-thirds of their annual salary, tax free. Without disability, officers get half of their salary, and the money is taxed. Montgomery officers claim disability at higher rates than their counterparts in nearby counties. Only 3 percent of Fairfax public safety retirees collect disability payments, for example.

Some Montgomery officials have quibbled with the report's conclusions. Mr. Leggett, whose office conducted its own examination, said Mr. Dagley's report was simplistic and didn't detail how to restructure the program. A spokesman for Mr. Leggett added that the report was incomplete because Mr. Dagley didn't speak with the three-doctor panel that reviews disability claims. Walter Bader, the head of the county's police union, said the report offered no evidence that officers are gaming the program.

Debating the report's finer points won't refute its central conclusion. Police Chief J. Thomas Manger, who has no control over disability retirement, concedes that the program must be strengthened. Thomas D. Evans, who in 1999 served as acting chief, went further, writing in a scathing letter to Mr. Leggett that the program is "scandalous" and needs an overhaul.

Mr. Andrews and Ms. Trachtenberg want to pass legislation in the next few weeks that would make the panel that reviews disability claims independent of union influence; as things stand, union officials can veto the appointment of doctors to the panel. The two council members also want to establish partial disability benefits and make it tougher for officers who commit crimes to collect payments. These are reasonable changes that should be made through legislation. The unions will push for collective bargaining, but entering into negotiations with union leaders, who could lodge appeals that could delay reform for years, would be unwise.