As reported by Governing, the latest Governmental Accounting Standards Board rules on pension reporting reveal that funding decisions are in the hands of local decision-makers. To assist county officials and others, the National Association of Counties (NACo) and partners, recently released a “Guide for Elected Officials.”

The Guide provides key facts about public pension plans, why it is essential to have a pension funding policy, a brief overview of the new GASB standards, and which issues state and local officials need to address. The guide also offers guidance for policy makers to use when developing their pension plan’s funding policy.

The 7-page guide includes numbered checklists of key policy objectives for funding policies, and a breakdown of actuarial cost and asset smoothing methods, and amortization policies, and a list of resources.

For more information, see the full guide.