(a) Collective bargaining must begin no later than the November 1 before the beginning of a fiscal year for which there is no agreement between the employer and the certified representative, and must be completed on or before January 15. The resolution of a bargaining impasse must be completed by February 1. These time limits may be waived or extended by written agreement of the parties.
(b) Any provision for automatic renewal or extension of a collective bargaining agreement is void. An agreement is void if it extends for less than 1 year or more than 3 years. Each collective bargaining agreement must take effect July 1 and end June 30.
(c) A collective bargaining agreement takes effect only after ratification by the employer and the certified representative. The certified representative may adopt its own ratification procedures.
(d) Before September 10 of any year in which the employer and the certified representative bargain collectively, they must choose an impasse neutral, either by agreement or through the processes of the American Arbitration Association. The impasse neutral must be available from January 15 to February 1. The impasse neutral's fees and expenses must be shared equally by the employer and the certified representative.
(e) During the course of collective bargaining, either party may declare an impasse and request the services of the impasse neutral, or the parties may jointly request those services before declaring an impasse. If the parties have not agreed on a collective bargaining agreement by January 15, an impasse exists by operation of law.
(f) When an impasse is reached, the parties must submit the dispute to the impasse neutral. The impasse neutral must attempt mediation by bringing the parties together voluntarily under conditions that will tend to bring about a settlement of the dispute.
(g) If the impasse neutral, in the impasse neutral's sole discretion, finds that the parties are at a bona fide impasse, the impasse neutral must require the parties to jointly submit all items previously agreed on, and each party to submit a final offer consisting of proposals not agreed upon. Neither party may change any proposal after it is submitted to the impasse neutral as a final offer, except to withdraw a proposal on which the parties have agreed.
(h) The impasse neutral may require the parties to submit evidence or present oral or written arguments in support of their proposals. The impasse neutral may hold a hearing at a time, date, and place selected by the impasse neutral. The hearing must not be open to the public.
(i) On or before February 1, unless that date is extended by written agreement of the parties, the impasse neutral must select the final offer that, as a whole, the impasse neutral judges to be the more reasonable.
(1) In determining which final offer is the more reasonable, the impasse neutral must first evaluate and give the highest priority to the ability of the County to pay for additional short-term and long-term expenditures by considering:
(A) the limits on the County’s ability to raise taxes under State law and the County Charter;
(B) the added burden on County taxpayers, if any, resulting from increases in revenues needed to fund a final offer; and
(C) the County’s ability to continue to provide the current standard of all public services.
(2) After evaluating the ability of the County to pay under paragraph (1), the impasse neutral may only consider:
(A) the interest and welfare of County taxpayers and service recipients;
(B) past collective bargaining agreements between the parties, including the past bargaining history that led to each agreement;
(C) wages, hours, benefits and conditions of employment of similar employees of other public employers in the Washington Metropolitan Area and in Maryland;
(D) wages, hours, benefits, and conditions of employment of other Montgomery County employees; and
(E) wages, benefits, hours, and other working conditions of similar employees of private employers in Montgomery County.
(j) The impasse neutral must base the selection of the most reasonable offer on the contents of the offer and the integration of any previously agreed-on items with the disputed items. In making a decision, the impasse neutral must not consider or receive any evidence or argument concerning offers of settlement not contained in the offers submitted to the impasse neutral, or any other information concerning the collective bargaining leading to impasse. The impasse neutral must neither compromise nor alter the final offer that he or she selects.
(k) The final offer selected by the impasse neutral, integrated with any items previously agreed on, is the final agreement between the parties, need not be ratified by any party, and has the force and effect of an agreement voluntarily entered into and ratified under subsection (c). The parties must execute that agreement.
(l) In each proposed annual operating budget, the County Executive must describe any collective bargaining agreement or amendment to an agreement that is scheduled to take effect in the next fiscal year and estimate the cost of implementing that agreement. The annual operating budget must include sufficient funds to pay for the items in the parties' final agreement. The employer must expressly identify to the Council by April 1, unless extenuating circumstances require a later date, all terms and conditions in the agreement that:
(1) require an appropriation of funds, or
(2) are inconsistent with any County law or regulation, or
(3) require the enactment or adoption of any County law or regulation, or
(4) which have or may have a present or future fiscal impact.
If a later submission is necessary, the employer must specify the submission date and the reasons for delay to the Council President by April 1. The employer must make a good faith effort to have the Council take action to implement all terms and conditions in the parties' final agreement.
(m) Each agreement submitted to the Council must include:
(1) all proposed legislation and regulations necessary to implement the agreement;
(2) all changes from the previous collective bargaining agreement, indicated by brackets and underlines or a similar notation system; and
(3) all side letters or other extraneous documents that are binding on the parties.
(n) The Council may hold a public hearing to enable the parties and the public to testify on the agreement.
(o) The Council may accept or reject all or part of any term or condition in the agreement which:
(1) requires an appropriation of funds, or
(2) is inconsistent with any County law or regulation, or
(3) requires the enactment or adoption of any County law or regulation, or
(4) which has or may have a present or future fiscal impact.
On or before May 1, the Council must indicate by resolution its intention to appropriate funds for or otherwise implement the agreement or its intention not to do so, and must state its reasons for any intention to reject any part of the parties' final agreement. The Council, by majority vote taken on or before May 1, may defer the May 1 deadline to any date not later than May 15.
(p) If the Council indicates its intention to reject any part of the parties' final agreement, it must select a representative to meet with the parties and present the Council's views in the parties' further negotiation on matters that the Council has indicated its intention to reject. This representative must also participate fully in stating the Council's position in any ensuing impasse procedure. The parties must meet as promptly as possible and attempt to negotiate an agreement acceptable to the Council. Either party may at this time initiate impasse procedures under this section. The parties must submit the results of the negotiation, whether a complete or a partial agreement, to the Council on or before May 10. If the Council has deferred the May 1 deadline, that action automatically postpones the May 10 deadline by the same number of days. The Council then must consider the agreement as renegotiated by the parties and indicate by resolution its intention to appropriate funds for or otherwise implement the agreement or its intention not to do so.
(q) Any agreement must provide for automatic reduction or elimination of wage or benefits adjustments if:
(1) the Council does not take action necessary to implement the agreement or a part of it; or
(2) sufficient funds are not appropriated for any fiscal year when the agreement is in effect.
(r) Later years. The process and timetable in subsections (o) and (p) apply to Council review of wage or benefits adjustments after the first year or any multi-year agreement.
(s) Out-of-cycle amendments. The process in subsections (o) and (p) applies to Council review of any amendment to a collective bargaining agreement that the Council receives after May 15 of any year, but the deadlines in those subsections do not apply. The Council President must set action deadlines which result, to the extent feasible, in a similar timetable relative to the date the Council received the amendment. (1996 L.M.C., ch. 21, § 1; 2003 L.M.C., ch. 22, § 1; 2010 L.M.C., ch. 57, § 1.)
Editor’s note—Sections 33-147, 33-153, 33-154, 33-155 & 33-157 are cited, and Sections 33-153(k), 33-153(l) and 33-154(a)(8) are quoted, in Montgomery County Career Firefighters Association v. Montgomery County, 210 Md. App. 200, 62 A.3d 287 (2013).
See County Attorney Opinion dated 10/28/10 comparing the limits on Council authority to make changes to retirement benefits with its ability to modify health benefits. See County Attorney Opinion dated 7/22/10 regarding the steps in the out-of-cycle collective bargaining process. See County Attorney Opinion dated 5/4/09 regarding the steps in the collective bargaining process. See County Attorney Opinion dated 9/2/03 analyzing that, although permitted under personnel and collective bargaining principles, a grant program to cover closing costs for public safety employees would be taxable income to the employees receiving the benefit.