The Government Accounting Standards Board has issued new standards on pension finances. These standards must be followed for financial reports that use “generally accepted accounting principles” including the City’s year-end Comprehensive Annual Financial report, or CAFR. The standards affect both pension funds and “plan sponsors”, such as the City, who fund the pension costs. The new standards will take effect for pension funds within the next 12 months, but plan sponsors do not have to implement the standards until the year after that. City Accountant Leslie Lundy and Finance Director will provide information on the standards to the City Council during the coming fiscal year.
Finance Director Richard Schnuer was a member of a panel presentation on the new accounting standards at the recent conference of the Governmental Finance Officers Association (GFOA). The association is the largest organization of government finance professionals. Most of its members serve local governments. The presentation attracted an audience of about 500.