Pension & other employee benefit assets by plan & agency fund (as of June 30, 2007,
expressed in thousands). View the
Statement of Plan Net Assets chart.
The primary sources of additions to the retirement trust funds include member and
employer contributions and investment earnings. The main sources of additions to
the deferred compensation plan include participant contributions and investment
earnings. The increase from Fiscal Year 2006 is primarily due to higher net investment
income, as well as increased member, employer and state contributions.
Additional sources and their totals are listed below (expressed in millions).
The retirement systems’ primary fund deductions include the payment of benefits
to retirees and beneficiaries, the refund of contributions to former members and
the cost of administering the retirement systems.
Benefit payments to members, including pension and annuity benefits, totaled $2,334
million for Fiscal Year 2007. Refunds totaled $305.4 million. Administrative expenses,
which include pension expenses incurred by DRS and the offices of the State Actuary
and Attorney General, totaled $27.7 million. Expenses for the management of trust
funds are incurred by the Washington State Investment Board and funded from earnings
on investments.
Valuations are performed for all DRS-administered retirement systems on a yearly
basis (October 1 through September 30).
The actuarial value of assets available as of the latest actuarial date, September
30, 2006, for all systems was $47,775 million. The accrued liability was $52,776
million. The accrued liability exceeds the net actuarial value of assets available
for benefits by $5,001 million.
The ratio of assets to liabilities is 91 percent, compared to 88 percent last year.
Current contribution rates remain in keeping with the goal of attaining a funding
ratio of 100 percent by the amortization dates applicable to each plan, as required
by the Revised Code of Washington, chapter 41.45.
The numbers shown in this report will vary from those shown in the State Actuary’s
Valuation Report. The Comprehensive and Summary Annual Financial Reports represent
an accounting of the annual liabilities and required contributions, using methods
set by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board. The Valuation (or Funding) Report
issued by the State Actuary uses actuarial assumptions and methods prescribed by
the Legislature to calculate the contributions that will be required, under existing
funding policy, over the life of the plans.
