A Baltimore County Police Union and the trustees of the county’s pension fund have dropped a law suit that revolved around a loan for a capital project.
In July 2012, the trustees agreed to lend the county up to $25 million to upgrade a recycling facility in Cockeysville. The loan was to be repaid over 15 years.
The Baltimore County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 4 sued the trustees in January, alleging they did not follow their own procedures in approving the loan, such as seeking independent advice on the matter.
“Our research found that they were entering into a very dangerous territory,” said Cole Weston, president of the police lodge, “There are a number of things that they are required to do by law if they’re going to consider such an action.”
Since then, however, the county repaid the $13.7 million it borrowed from the County Employees’ Retirement System, along with $500,000 in interest. The union dropped the lawsuit and Weston notified his members Wednesday.
The lodge remains in a separate legal dispute with the county over police retirees’ health benefits. The Court of Appeals, Maryland’s highest court, ruled the county had overcharged retirees for health benefits and kicked the case back to circuit court. A judge there ordered the county to pay up, but the county hasn’t done so.
Now, the union has asked the court to hold the county in contempt for not obeying that orders.