Commentary
Los Angeles County has 80 public school districts, and a review of their audited financial statements for the years ending June 30, 2017, and 2018 shows a dramatic amount of fiscal activity.
The big news is that around this time the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, also known in the Certified Public Accounting world as GASB, finally required municipalities, including school districts, to report unfunded liabilities for defined benefit pension plans and other post-employment benefits, like retiree medical plans, on their balance sheets.
How did this work out for the 8 percent of California’s school districts that are located within the Los Angeles County borders? Let’s take a look, from the implementation of this long overdue fiscal shift in 2017 and 2018 to the current fiscal years ending June 30. Reviewing the financial dynamics will provide a baseline for these districts moving toward their 2024 audited reports….