No Pay Day for Thousands of Maryland State Employees

SALISBURY- Suppose that instead of a check you got an e-mail on pay day. That is exactly what happened to many state employees across Maryland.

Thousands of state workers knew something was wrong when their direct deposit did not appear. What appeared instead was an explanation on why those much needed funds were not available.

"Apparently there was failure in communication between the central payroll of the comptroller's office and the treasurer's office to make sure deposits were made in a timely manner, so that direct deposits were made to contractual employees, about 5,300 in the state," said Michael Golden of the Maryland Comptroller's Office.

Hundreds of Salisbury University employees were affected by the glitch in the system.

"There are about 321 of our 1,100 typically part-time employees who didn't receive their paychecks on time," said Greig Mitchell of Salisbury University. "These are very important people to this campus and we're really disappointed this occurred."

Contractual workers from several agencies across the state were affected, all of whom were expected to be paid by Thursday.

Since the state uses M & T Bank, state employees who are also that bank's customers are expected to get their checks the quickest and then everyone else next.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.