Disclosure rules for govt. pensions, retiree health care

California CPA, July, 2007

GASB's newly issued Statement No. 50, Pension Disclosures, more closely aligns current pension disclosure requirements for governments with those that governments are beginning to implement for retiree health insurance and other postemployment benefits.

Specifically, Statement 50 amends GASB Statements No. 25 and No. 27 by requiring:

* Disclosure in the notes to the financial statements of pension plans and certain employer governments of the current funded status of the plan.

* Governments that use the aggregate actuarial cost method to disclose the funded status and present a multi-year schedule of funding progress using the entry age actuarial cost method as a surrogate; these governments previously were not required to provide this information.

* Disclosure by governments participating in multi-employer, cost-sharing pension plans of how the contractually required contribution rate is determined.

The provisions of Statement 50 generally are effective for periods beginning after June 15, 2007.

For more information, visit www.gasb.org.