Agenda - Council Work Session - 06/10/2014

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ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING UPDATES GASB STATEMENT NO. 67 — FINANCIAL REPORTING FOR PENSION PLANS - AN AMENDMENT OF GASB STATEMENT NOS. 25 AND 50 The primary objective of this statement is to improve financial reporting by state and local government pension plans. GASB Statement No. 67 replaces the requirements of GASB Statement Nos. 25 and 50 for pension plans that are administered through trusts or equivalent arrangements that meet the following criteria: contributions from employers and nonemployer contributing entities to the pension plan and earnings on those contributions are irrevocable; pension plan assets are dedicated to providing pensions to plan members in accordance with the benefit terms; and pension plan assets are legally protected from the creditors of employers, nonemployer contributing entities, and the pension plan administrator. If the plan is a defined benefit pension plan, plan assets also are legally protected from creditors of the plan members. The requirements of GASB Statement Nos. 25 and 50 remain applicable to pension plans that are not administered through trusts covered by the scope of this statement and to defined contribution plans that provide post- employment benefits other than pensions. The statement makes a number of changes in the financial statement presentation, measurement, and required disclosures relating to the reporting of these types of pension plans. This statement is effective for fmancial statements for fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2013. Earlier application is encouraged. GASB STATEMENT NO. 68 — ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL REPORTING FOR PENSIONS - AN AMENDMENT OF GASB STATEMENT NOS. 27 AND 50 The primary objective of this statement is to improve accounting and financial reporting by state and local governments for pensions. This statement replaces the requirements of GASB Statement Nos. 27 and 50, as they relate to pensions that are provided through pension plans administered as trusts or equivalent arrangements that meet certain criteria (as described earlier for GASB Statement No. 67). The requirements of GASB Statement Nos. 27 and 50 remain applicable for pensions that are not covered by the scope of this statement. This statement establishes standards for measuring and recognizing liabilities, deferred outflows of resources, deferred inflows of resources, and expense /expenditures. In addition, this statement details the recognition and disclosure requirements for employers with liabilities (payables) to a defined benefit pension plan and for employers whose employees are provided with defined contribution pensions. This statement also addresses circumstances in which a nonemployer entity has a legal requirement to make contributions directly to a pension plan. This statement is effective for financial statements for fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2014. Earlier application is encouraged. Included in this statement are major changes in how employers that participate in cost - sharing pension plans, such as the Teachers' Retirement Association (TRA) and PERA, account for pension benefit expenses and liabilities. In financial statements prepared using the economic resources measurement focus and accrual basis of accounting (government -wide and proprietary funds), a cost - sharing employer that does not have a special funding situation is required to recognize a liability for its proportionate share of the net pension liability of all employers with benefits provided through the pension plan. A cost - sharing employer is required to recognize pension expense and report deferred outflows of resources and deferred inflows of resources related to pensions for its proportionate share of collective pension expense and collective deferred outflows of resources and deferred inflows of resources related to pensions. In addition, the effects of (1) a change in the employer's proportion of the collective net pension liability and (2) differences during the measurement period between the employer's contributions and its proportionate share of the total of contributions from employers included in the collective net pension liability are required to be determined. These effects are required to be recognized in the employer's pension expense in a systematic and rational manner over a closed period equal to the average of the expected remaining service lives of all active and inactive employees that are provided with pensions through the pension plan. -21-