Tell Baltimore County Council:
Fix the Prevailing Wage Law!

Excessive Reporting and Fines are Driving Away Contractors!

In July 2021, Baltimore County passed a prevailing wage law designed to ensure that construction workers employed under public works contracts are paid the “prevailing wage” rate for their services. The county then hired Contractor Compliance and Monitoring (CCMI) to manage the program. While many of the submittal requirements imposed by the county through CCMI are consistent with the prevailing wage law, what sets the requirements apart from neighboring jurisdictions are additional requirements that are either not identified in the statute or are redundant, adding unnecessary burden on firms conducting business in the county.

What used to take a few minutes, now literally takes hours, driving up costs and limiting competition in the County. The average contractor has fewer than 10 employees. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the reporting mandates that accompany the County’s prevailing wage law, in many cases, necessitates a full-time hire.

Of particular concern are these reporting requirements, none of which is required by the new law:

1) Signed proof of employee authorization for deductions
2) Proof of transmission of payments, such as paycheck stubs, time card reports, monthly health insurance coverage, etc.
3) Separate fringe benefit statements weekly in addition to the fringe benefit information submitted via certified payroll

These demands go beyond what is required by the Municipal Code, which already requires contractors and subcontractors to submit copies of each payroll record with specified supporting documentation and a certifying statement. This certified payroll report is sufficient for federal and state contracts. Many contractors have the ability to generate the standard information requested directly from their payroll company/system, but given the unique requirements being asked by CCMI, most of that information must be compiled by hand. These new provisions are unnecessarily duplicative and very time consuming for contractors who are doing their level best to comply with the County’s reporting requirements.

You can help!

Use the form to contact your lawmaker now and tell them to pull back most onerous of the reporting requirements associated with the new law, to ensure that contractors of every size, shape and specialty will have the opportunity to compete for this business.

The Associated Builders and Contractors of Greater Baltimore is the largest organization in Maryland to represent the commercial construction industry. Our 650 members represent the leading general contractors and specialty contractors in the region.

The Associated Utility Contractors of Maryland, Inc. was incorporated on March 11, 1950, by a group of concerned contractors interested in the welfare and advancement of the utility contracting industry. The Association is a founding and highly active member of the Clean Water Construction Coalition (C.W.C.C.).