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OPEB Summary Reports

Reports on Other Post-Employment Benefits

In accordance with Section 20A of Chapter 32B, PERAC publishes periodic summary reports of the funded status of Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB).  OPEB are benefits, other than pension distributions, that employees may begin to receive from their employer upon retirement.  The main types of OPEB are health, dental, and life insurance.

With the exception of the 2016 report, the data available in the reports below may be sorted with any of the available headers by clicking on the header. You can also search for a specific entity by entering the name in the search box. If you would like to expand your view, you can do so by updating the "show entries" field. 

A "+" symbol next to an entity name indicates you can click to expand a row and view additional information, if available. Some entities have not provided any information as of the date of this report, or have indicated that they have no plan. 

To download a printable version of a report go to "Additional Resources" below the respective report's footnotes and click on the link to the pdf.

We will continue to add reports to this page periodically. 

PERAC's Actuarial Unit compiled the data in this report. 

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2016 OPEB Summary Report (download only)

Download the 2016 OPEB Summary Report

Commonwealth, Cities, and Towns (December 2021 Report)

* Data as of 12/7/2021. See December 2021 footnotes below. 

Footnotes and Comments (December 2021 Report)

  • PERAC’s first Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) Summary Report was released in 2016. That report reflected Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) requirements at the time. This latest report reflects the current GASB 74 and GASB 75 standards.
  • This report reflects the most recent actuarial information for the Commonwealth, cities, and towns that was provided to PERAC as of December 7, 2021. Information received after December 7 will be included in subsequent Summary Reports. In addition, information for other entities that provide OPEB benefits, including school districts, water and light districts, authorities, and collaboratives will be provided in future reports.
  • Our report reflects the results provided by over 25 actuarial firms.
  • A number of towns indicated that no OPEB benefits were provided by the town or there was no plan and this is noted in the Summary Report. A number of towns did not provide us an OPEB valuation report and these towns may or may not have OPEB liabilities. Several towns indicated that there was no recent OPEB study, but the town intended to undertake one in the next two years.
  • All dollar amounts are in thousands.
  • The Summary report details the Measurement Date, Total OPEB Liability (TOL), Financial Net Position (FNP, or Assets), Net OPEB Liability (TOL less FNP, often referred to as Unfunded Liability), Funded Ratio (TOL/FNP), and Blended Discount Rate. The Blended Discount Rate is the single rate that reflects the present value of projected benefit payments using a long-term expected rate of return for years in which assets are projected to be sufficient to make projected benefit payments, and a tax-exempt high-quality municipal bond rate for years in which assets are projected to not be sufficient to make projected benefit payments. If assets are projected to be sufficient to pay all future projected benefits, the Blended Discount Rate will reflect the long-term expected rate of return. Likewise, if assets are not projected to be sufficient to make any projected benefits, the Blended Discount Rate will reflect the municipal bond rate. If assets are projected to be sufficient to pay only a portion of the projected benefits, the Blended Discount Rate will fall between the two rates.
  • The cumulative Total OPEB Liability for all entities that reported is approximately $56.1 billion. The cumulative Financial Net Position is approximately $3.3 billion resulting in a cumulative Net OPEB Liability of $52.8 billion and a funded ratio of 5.9%.
  • We maintain a spreadsheet of information regarding OPEB valuations that is constantly updated as we receive additional valuation reports and disclosures. The spreadsheet includes the number of active and retired members, service cost, actuarial assumptions, and certain plan provisions. We may incorporate some of these items in future reports.

Notes on Actuarial Assumptions

Discount Rate

We have shown only the Blended Discount Rate in our Summary Report because it is the interest rate used to determine plan liabilities.  The long-term rate of return on assets and the municipal bond rate are not always shown in valuation reports.

Medical Trend

The medical trend assumption varies by plan and by actuary. Initial rates are generally 4.5% - 8.0%.  The ultimate trend rate is generally 3.5% - 4.5%. The year in which the ultimate trend is assumed varies widely from 2020 – 2075.

Mortality

All plans (except small plans) use a generational mortality assumption.  The vast majority of plans (about 80%) use some version of the RP-2014 mortality table.  A much smaller number of plans use a version of the RP-2000 or the Society of Actuaries Pub-2010 mortality tables.  As updated reports are submitted, we find that many that previously used RP-2000, have adopted RP-2014.  For mortality improvement, most plans reflect a version of the MP scale.

Additional Resources

Introduction and Notes (May 2024 Report)

This report reflects the most recent actuarial information for school districts, other districts and authorities (including electric, fire, health, redevelopment, sewer, transit, and water), counties, and educational collaboratives* that was provided to PERAC as of April 30, 2024. Information received after that date will be included in subsequent summary reports.

The cumulative Total OPEB Liability for the approximately 220 districts included in this report is approximately $5.0 billion. The cumulative Fiduciary Net Position is approximately $716 million resulting in a cumulative Net OPEB Liability of $4.2 billion and a cumulative funded ratio of 14.4%.

This summary report details the Measurement Date, Total OPEB Liability (TOL, or the plan’s liability based on service to date), Fiduciary Net Position (FNP which equals the Market Value of Assets), Net OPEB Liability (TOL less FNP, often referred to as Unfunded Liability), Funded Ratio (FNP/TOL), and the Blended Discount Rate. The Blended Discount Rate is the single interest rate that reflects the present value of all projected benefit payments. The methodology to determine this present value is complex. This methodology reflects a long-term expected rate of return for years in which assets are projected to be sufficient to make projected benefit payments and a tax-exempt high-quality municipal bond rate (typically lower than the long-term rate) for years in which assets are projected not to be sufficient to make projected benefit payments. If assets are projected to be sufficient to pay all future projected benefits, the Blended Discount Rate will reflect the long-term expected rate of return. Likewise, if assets are projected not to be sufficient to make any projected benefits, the Blended Discount Rate will reflect the municipal bond rate. If assets are projected to be sufficient to pay only a portion of the projected benefits, the Blended Discount Rate will fall between the two rates.

Some entities indicated that no OPEB benefits were provided. Those entities are not included in this report. Some entities have not provided the current report, so we have used the most recent report PERAC has on file. Our report reflects the results determined by over 10 actuarial firms. All dollar amounts are in thousands

PERAC’s first Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) summary report was released in 2016. That report reflected the Governmental Accounting Standards Board requirements at the time. Our December 2021 report and this latest report reflect the current GASB 74 and GASB 75 standards. These reports are available on our website at mass.gov/perac.

Notes on Actuarial Assumptions

Discount Rate

We have shown only the Blended Discount Rate in our summary report because it is the rate used to determine plan liabilities. The long-term rate of return on assets and the municipal bond rate are not always shown in valuation reports.

Medical Trend 

The medical trend assumption reflects the expected annual increase in medical costs. This assumption varies by plan and by actuary. Initial rates are generally 6.0% - 8.0%. However, about 20% of plans use an assumption of 4.5% or below. We expect the size of this group will decrease as we receive more updated valuation reports. The ultimate trend rate is generally 3.5% - 5.0%. The year in which the ultimate trend is reached varies widely from 2021 - 2075.

Mortality

All plans (except a few small plans) use a generational mortality assumption. Most plans (about 80%) use some version of the RP-2014 mortality table. A much smaller number of plans use a version of the Society of Actuaries Pub-2010 mortality tables. Only one plan uses the more outdated RP-2000 mortality table. For mortality improvement, most plans reflect a version of the MP scale.

*Educational collaboratives are educational services agencies that bring school districts together to form partnerships that create regional educational resources and develop a broad range of innovative programming for the most vulnerable students.

Additional Resources

School Districts (May 2024 Report)

Data as of 4/30/2024. Download the full report in the May 2024 introduction section above.

Other Districts and Authorities (May 2024 Report)

Data as of 4/30/2024. Download the full report in the May 2024 introduction section above.

Counties (May 2024 Report)

Data as of 4/30/2024, Download the full report in the May 2024 introduction section above.

Educational Collaboratives (May 2024 Report)

Data as of 4/30/2024. Download the full report in the May 2024 introduction section above.  

Last updated: May 30, 2024

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