GASB 45 Committee

Meeting Date

Minutes

October 29, 2012

10-29-2012 Minutes

January 28, 2013

1-28-2013 Minutes

April 8, 2013

Accounting and Financial Reporting by Employers for Postemployment Benefits Other Than Pensions

In 2007, the Board of Education approved a District Committee to study and makerecommendations to address the GASB 45 requirements. The committeeis being reconvened to address current GASB 45 requirements. This committee is chaired by Karl Christensen, Assistant Superintendent, Business Services. The advisory committee will be comprised of representatives from the community; representatives from each of the employee associations (STA, CSEA and SAA); District employees, teachers, and administrators, and members of the Board of Education. The committee meets at the Charles E. Skidmore Administrative Center, Santee School District, 9625 Cuyamaca Street, Santee, CA 92071.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) has issued Statement No. 45, Accounting and Financial Reporting by Employers for Postemployment Benefits Other Than Pensions, which addresses how state and local governments should account for and report their costs and obligations related to postemployment healthcare and other non-pension benefits. The statement generally requires that state and local governmental employers account for and report the annual cost of other post employment benefits (OPEB) and the outstanding obligations and commitments related to OPEB in essentially the same manner as they currently do for pensions. Annual OPEB cost for most employers will be based on actuarially determined amounts that, if paid on an ongoing basis, generally would provide sufficient resources to pay benefits as they come due. The provisions of Statement 45 may be applied prospectively and do not require governments to fund their OPEB plans. An employer may establish its OPEB liability at zero as of the beginning of the initial year of implementation; however, the unfunded actuarial liability is required to be amortized over future periods.

Statement 45 also establishes disclosure requirements for information about the plans in which an employer participates, the funding policy followed, the actuarial valuation process and assumptions, and, for certain employers, the extent to which the plan has been funded over time.