Effective July 1, 1995, the State adopted the Governmental Accounting Standards Board’s Statement 25, "Financial Reporting for Defined Benefit Pension Plans and Note Disclosures for Defined Contribution Plans", and Statement 27, "Accounting for Pensions by State and Local Governmental Employers." In accordance with those statements, the State has presented investments of its Pension Trust Funds at fair (market) value rather than at cost. As a result, the fund balances of the State’s Pension Trust Funds increased.
The State has met all actuarially determined funding requirements for the four plans administered by the South Carolina Retirement Systems in the current period and in past periods. Under Statement 27, the State has no pension liability at June 30, 1996, for those plans.
The National Guard Pension System is administered by the Adjutant General’s Office. Adoption of Statement 27 required that the State record a $4.064 million pension liability in the General Long-Term Obligations Account Group at June 30, 1996, for that plan. This liability resulted primarily from funding the National Guard Pension System on a pay-as-you-go basis before July 1, 1993. On July 1, 1993, the State began funding this plan on an actuarial basis. See Note 7, "Retirement Plans," in the Notes to the Financial Statements for more information.