Dive Summary:

• Baltimore County, MD plans to borrow $25 million from its pension system to finance upgrades to its recycling facilities
• The pension system's board of trustees approved the loan which would carry a 7.875% interest rate.  The $2 billion pension system serves a combined 15,000 active and retired employees
• The loan will be used to build a new single stream recycling facility and to upgrade an existing transfer station.

From the article:

Baltimore County plans to borrow $25 million from its pension system to upgrade recycling facilities, a move some County Council members and union leaders are questioning.

The county retirement system's board of trustees approved the loan last month at the request of County Executive Kevin Kamenetz's administration.

In an interview Thursday, Kamenetz called the move prudent, saying it would serve both the retirement system and the county well. The county plans to borrow the money at an interest rate of 7.875 percent and repay it within 15 years.

But the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 4 questioned the legality of the move, union president Cole Weston said.

"The employee pension system has an obligation and responsibility to the people in the plan," said Weston, who served on the pension system's board for more than a decade until his June retirement.