2624                               Municipal Charters

(B)    The personnel committee, subject to approval of the fire board
and the availability of funds, shall establish a program of uniform fringe
benefits for paid employees equivalent to that accorded to county merit
system employees which shall include a system of leave, retirement pay,
life insurance protection, group hospitalization and medical program,
Workman's Compensation coverage, Social Security coverage, and profes-
sional development programs.

(C)    Any employee with career status under the personnel regula-
tions who is removed, demoted, or suspended, shall have as a matter of
right an opportunity for a hearing before the personnel board of the
county, and in such event, the charges against him shall be stated in
writing in such form as the personnel board may require. The decision
of the personnel board in such appeals shall be final and shall be binding,
and shall not be subject to review except by a court of competent juris-
diction, upon appeal taken within 30 days of the decision. Decision of
the board, or if appealed, the decree of the court, shall be enforceable by
the fire board or by the county. The committee shall include in the
personnel regulations rights of appeal to the county personnel board by
paid employees of fire departments and rescue squads which rights shall
be essentially the same as accorded merit system employees under county
personnel regulations.

(D)    The personnel committee, subject to approval of the fire board
and availability of funds, shall establish a uniform pay scale.

(2)    Personnel System for Volunteer Members of Fire Departments
and Rescue Squads.

(A)    The personnel committee shall prepare and adopt uniform per-
sonnel regulations and minimum standards, subject to the approval of the
fire board, governing all volunteer members of the several fire departments
and rescue squads.

(B)    The personnel committee, subject to approval of the fire board
and the availability of funds, shall establish a program for volunteer
members to provide financial protection for the volunteer and his family
in the event of the volunteer's disability or death in line of duty. The
committee shall also determine what other parts of the paid firemen and
rescue squadsmen fringe benefit program can be extended in whole or in
part to volunteer members. Any determinations made by the committee
shall be subject to the approval of the fire board and the availability of
funds.

(3)    The executive committee is authorized, subject to approval of
the fire board, to contract on a fee-for-service basis with the county's
personnel office for whatever personnel services it may deem necessary.

Section 2. Conflict. All provision of law pertaining to the fire and
rescue services of Montgomery County and Takoma Park, Maryland, in-
cluding chapters 27 through 43, Montgomery County Code 1965, as
amended, shall remain in full force and effect, except whenever any section
or provision of this act shall conflict or be inconsistent with any prior
enacted law, ordinance, resolution, rule or regulation, said section or pro-
vision of this act shall be held to prevail.

Section 3. Special Delegate Election. In order to implement the
provisions of this act as soon as practicable after its effective date, delegates
to the fire board, the chairman and officers of the board, and the executive