By Patricia Duperron, CPA
Beginning with fiscal years ending June 30, 2017, the first of the two Other Postemployment Benefit (OPEB) standards from the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) becomes effective.
GASB Statement No. 74, Financial Reporting for Postemployment Benefit Plans Other Than Pension Plans replaces GASB Statements Nos. 43 and 57 for reporting of OPEB plans and mirrors the requirements of GASB Statement No. 67, Financial Reporting for Pension Plans. The good news is that most everything you learned in implementing the pension standards will apply to implementing the OPEB standards. There are, however, a few exceptions which will be discussed herein.
OPEB includes postemployment healthcare benefits such as medical, dental and vision, whether the benefit is provided separately from or through a pension plan. However other benefits, such as death benefits, life insurance, disability and long-term care are considered OPEB, subject to GASB 74 only when provided separately from a pension plan. OPEB does not include termination benefits or termination payments for sick leave.
GASB 74 applies to defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans administered through trusts, as well as plans not held in trust. Similar to pension plans, there are three types of defined benefit OPEB plans:
- Single-employer
- Cost sharing multiple-employer—in which the OPEB obligations to the employees of more than one employer are pooled and OPEB plan assets can be used to pay the benefits of the employees of any employer that provides pensions through the plan.
- Agent multiple-employer plans—in which OPEB assets are pooled for investment purposes but separate accounts are maintained for each individual employer so that each employer’s share of the pooled assets is legally available to pay the benefits of only its employees.
GASB 74 does not apply to insured plans (those financed through an arrangement whereby premiums are paid to an insurance company during employees’ active service and the insurance company unconditionally undertakes an obligation to pay the OPEB of those employees).
GASB 74 requires the same two financial statements currently required by GASB 43 for plans administered through trust:
- Statement of fiduciary net position (similar to GASB 67, receivables for contributions are only included if due pursuant to legal requirements)
- Statement of changes in fiduciary net position
- Footnotes specified by paragraph 35 of GASB 74 should include:
- Basic description of the plan and policies
- Investment information, including the annual money weighted rate of return
- Information about reserves
- Single and cost-sharing plans should also disclose:
– Components of the OPEB liability
– Significant assumptions
– Healthcare cost trend analysis
– Discount rate
– Long-term expected rate of return
– Sensitivity analysis of the discount rate and the healthcare cost trend rate
Note that the sensitivity analysis for OPEB includes the healthcare cost trend rate, which is something that wasn’t required for pension plan financial statements. The net OPEB liability will be shown at the current healthcare cost trend rate and one percentage point higher and lower. The discussion of actuarial assumptions will also include the healthcare cost trend rates.
Required supplementary information (RSI) for single and cost-sharing employers should include 10-year schedules of:
- Changes in the OPEB liability and related key ratios
- Actuarially determined contributions and actual contributions
- Annual money-weighted rate of return on investments
- Notes to the required schedules
RSI for agent OPEB plans requires a 10-year schedule of the annual money-weighted rate of return.
The OPEB liability should be determined by an actuarial valuation which can be no more than 24 months earlier than the plan’s most recent year-end, using the entry age actuarial cost method. The discount rate should be a single rate that reflects the long-term rate of return on investments that will be used to pay benefits. If there will be insufficient assets to pay the liability, the index rate for 20-year tax-exempt municipal bonds with an average rating of AA/Aa or higher would be used. Keep in mind that actuaries will be quite busy as everyone will be required to get OPEB valuations completed this year, so don’t wait until the last minute.
For assets accumulated to provide OPEB but not in a trust, the employer will continue to report the assets in an agency fund. For defined contribution plans there are specific disclosures required.
GASB has issued an Exposure Draft Implementation Guide No. 201X-X, Financial Reporting for Postemployment Benefit Plans other than Pension Plans, which follows the format of the GASB 67 Implementation Guide. The Implementation Guide includes illustrations to assist in determining the discount rate, money-weighted rate of return and sample note disclosures and should be finalized in April 2017.
Deferred inflows and deferred outflows of resources should be fairly rare as GASB has not identified any deferrals specific to OPEB. The draft Implementation Guide identifies a possible deferred outflow or deferred inflow related to derivatives, if applicable.
Implementing GASB 74 for OPEB plan financial statements will be very similar to the implementation of GASB 67 for pension plans. The GASB intentionally made GASB 74 similar to GASB 67 to minimize implementation issues for governments. However, in 2018 governments will be required to implement GASB statement No.75, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Postemployment Benefits Other than Pensions, which will require governments to record their proportionate share of the net OPEB liability in the financial statements. Previously, governments only recorded an OPEB obligation if they didn’t fully fund the annual required contribution and the net OPEB liability was only disclosed in the notes. Implementing GASB 75 will have a significant effect on a government’s net position because many OPEB plans are significantly underfunded or not funded at all.
This article originally appeared in BDO USA, LLP’s “Nonprofit Standard” newsletter (Spring 2017). Copyright © 2017 BDO USA, LLP. All rights reserved. www.bdo.com
