Note X – Pension Plans

Note X – Pension Plans

A. State Sponsored Pension Plans [1]

Substantially all (city/county/district’s) full-time and qualifying part-time employees participate in the following statewide retirement systems administered by the Washington State Department of Retirement Systems (DRS), under cost-sharing, multiple-employer public employee defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans (list only applicable plans [2]).

The State Legislature establishes, and amends, laws pertaining to the creation and administration of all public retirement systems.

The Department of Retirement Systems, a department within the primary government of the State of Washington, issues a publicly available Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) that includes financial statements and required supplementary information for each plan.

The DRS ACFR may be downloaded from the DRS website at www.drs.wa.gov.

LEOFF Plan 1 [3]

The (city/county/district) also participates in LEOFF Plan 1. The LEOFF Plan 1 is fully funded and no further employer contributions have been required since June 2000. If the plan becomes underfunded, funding of the remaining liability will require new legislation. Starting on July 1, 2000, employers and employees contribute zero percent.

LEOFF Plan 2 [3]

The (city/county/district) also participates in the LEOFF Plan 2. The Legislature, by means of a special funding arrangement, appropriates money from the state general fund to supplement the current service liability and fund the prior service costs of Plan 2 in accordance with the recommendations of the Pension Funding Council and the LEOFF Plan 2 Retirement Board. This special funding situation is not mandated by the state constitution and could be changed by statute.

[3] Volunteer Fire Fighters’ Relief and Pension Fund (VFFRPF) and Reserve Officers’ Relief and Pension Fund (RORPF) 

The (city/county/district) also participates in the VFFPRPF and RORPF administered by the State Board for Volunteer Fire Fighters and Reserve Officers. Detailed information about the plan is included in the State of Washington ACFR available from the Office of Financial Management website at www.ofm.wa.gov.

At June 30, 20XX (the measurement date of the plans), the (city/county/district’s) proportionate share of the collective net pension liabilities (assets) [4], was as follows: [5]

Only the net pension liabilities are reported on the Schedule of Liabilities. [6]

B. Local Government Pension Plans [7]

The (city/county/district) is the administrator of the (name of plan, e.g., Firefighter’s and Police Officer’s Pension plan, etc.), a closed, single-employer, defined benefit pension plan established under (RCW 14.16, 14.18, and 14.20 – as applicable). As of December 31, 20XX, membership consisted of (number of individuals) and the net pension liability (or asset) was $____ as reported on the Schedule of Liabilities. [6]

C. Defined Contribution Pension Plans [8]

Instructions to preparer:

[1] Additional information helping with preparation of this note are available here.

[2] Example: Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS), Public Safety Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS), Law Enforcement Officers’ and Fire Fighters’ Retirement System (LEOFF), etc.

[3] Only include this paragraph if your government participates in this plan. If your government participates in only VFFRPF or only the RORPF, update the note to only refer to the plan your government participates in.

[4] For DRS sponsored plans, list the allocation percentage and proportionate share of the liability (asset) for each plan.

[5] Only report applicable plans. Delete rows for plans that are not applicable to your government.

[6] Only report liabilities on the Schedule of Liabilities (Schedule 09); do not report assets on the Schedule of Liabilities.

[7] If the government administers its own pension plan, include the following:

[8] Including nongovernmental (e.g., union sponsored) plans. If the government contributes to a defined contribution plan, include the following:

• The name of the pension plan, the name of the plan administrator, and identification of the plan as a defined contribution plan,

• A brief description of the benefit terms,

• The contribution rates (in dollars or as a percentage of salary) for employees and the employer,

• The dollar amount the employer contributed in the reporting period.

If the government does not contribute to the plan (i.e., only employees contribute), no disclosures are required. The government may elect to disclose the plan in the notes, but must clearly state that it does not contribute.