In January 2006, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced the creation of a trust fund to pay for retirees' health care costs and other post-employment benefits (OPEB). The announcement called attention to the new rules on OPEB accounting and financial reporting issued by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) in 2004. Prior to GASB Statement 45, governments typically took a “pay-as-you-go” approach, meaning that the cost was not reported until after employees retired. GASB's new statement, however, requires state and local governments to report their annual OPEB cost and their unfunded actuarial accrued liabilities. These liabilities are expected to be substantial, with New York City 's total OPEB liability estimated at $50 billion.
- What does Statement 45 really mean for state and local governments?
- How have they responded and what implementation challenges do they face?
- How will the disclosure of this potentially large unfunded liability impact governments' credit ratings and future borrowing costs?
Panelists will address these and other questions on February 1st.
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David R. Bean
Director of Research and Technical Activities
Governmental Accounting Standards Board |
Amy R. Laskey
Managing Director, U.S. Public Finance
Fitch Ratings
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Cynthia B. Green
Board Member
Governmental Accounting Standards Board |
Michele Mark Levine
Director of Accounting Services
New York City Office of Management and Budget
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Moderator:
Martin Ives
Adjunct Professor of Public Administration
NYU - Wagner |
