NEWS from NABR
Nonpartisan Action for a Better Redding
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
More info: David Bohn 203 938-9086
david@betterredding.org
May 5, 2008
Municipalities must soon account for post-employment retirement benefits. In some towns, the cost to taxpayers could be both large and jarring. How and why at a free, May 15, informational session.
Do you know how and why municipalities must soon account for post-employment benefits, like health care? Karl Johnson, an expert on this topic, will provide answers to elected officials and financial staff, and others who are interested, at a free informational session on Thursday, May 15, 2008, at the Ethan Allen Hotel in Danbury, CT. The meeting will start at 7PM, after coffee and dessert at 6:30PM.
Karl Johnson is a Project Manager with GASB, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board. The session is co-sponsored by NABR (Nonpartisan Action for A Better Redding) and the Yankee Institute for Public Policy Studies.
Registration for the free session is required, and is convenient at www.betterredding.org/session which also provides driving directions and a map.
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The Topic:
Improved Financial Information about Post-employment Healthcare Benefits: Basics of GASB Statement 45.
This program will include an overview-level presentation by Karl Johnson of the professional staff of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), who was the project manager for Statement 45. The program is designed for elected officials and financial staff members of Connecticut municipalities that provide other post-employment benefits (OPEB)—that is, benefits other than pensions, especially post-employment healthcare. The presentation will focus on basic OPEB accounting concepts and objectives, new information required by Statement 45 (where it comes from, how it will be reported, and what it will tell report users, including municipal officials), and identification of potential implementation planning tasks. Time also will be provided for questions and answers.
The speaker:
Karl Johnson is a Project Manager with the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) in Norwalk, Connecticut, working primarily in the area of accounting and financial reporting for pension and other post-employment benefits (OPEB). He was the project manager for GASB Statements 43 and 45 on accounting for OPEB and continues to be busy answering technical inquiries related to the implementation of the standards. He recently completed a research project to develop information helpful to the Board in assessing the effectiveness of GASB Statements 25 and 27 in achieving their financial reporting objectives. As of the time of the presentation, he anticipates (subject to planning decisions by the Board at its April 2008 meeting) being engaged in a follow-up project to consider whether and how current standards might be amended to further enhance the transparency and decision-usefulness of reported information in the complex area of post-employment benefits.
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