Decker: Caroline’s pension fund rising from the ashes

In Maryland, success stories about rural local governments often do not make the news. Unlike the State of Maryland or the larger, more affluent jurisdictions, places like Caroline County on the Eastern Shore do not have teams dedicated to tweeting, touting, or otherwise trumpeting accomplishments. By many measures, Caroline is Maryland’s second poorest county. Like many local governments, it was devastated by the Great Recession of 2008. The loss of revenues from falling property assessments was compounded by the State taking 90 percent of local road maintenance money.