(a) If a school district or county office of education, either individually or as a member of a joint powers agency, provides health and welfare benefits for employees upon their retirement, and those benefits will continue after the employees reach 65 years of age, the superintendent of the school district or county superintendent of schools, as appropriate, annually shall provide information to the governing board of the school district or the county board of education, as appropriate, regarding the estimated accrued but unfunded cost of those benefits. The estimate of cost shall be based upon an actuarial report that incorporates annual fiscal information and is obtained by the superintendent at least every three years. The actuarial report shall be performed by an actuary who is a member of the American Academy of Actuaries. If the school district or county office of education regularly contracts for an actuarial report for other fiscal matters, a separate actuarial report is not required, if the estimate of costs required by this subdivision is separately and clearly set forth in that report.

(b) The cost information required by subdivision (a) and a copy of the actuarial report on which the estimated costs are based shall be presented by the superintendent at a public meeting of the governing board. At that meeting, the governing board shall disclose, as a separate agenda item, whether or not it will reserve a sufficient amount of money in its budget to fund the present value of the health and welfare benefits of existing retirees or the future cost of employees who are eligible for benefits in the current fiscal year, or both.

(c) The governing board annually shall certify to the county superintendent of schools the amount of money, if any, that it has decided to reserve in its budget for the cost of those benefits, and shall submit to the county superintendent of schools any budget revisions that may be necessary to account for that budget reserve.

(d) The county board of education annually shall certify to the Superintendent of Public Instruction the amount of money, if any, that has been reserved in the budget of the county office of education for the cost of those benefits.

(e) This section is inoperative on January 1, 2005.

(Amended by Stats. 2004, Ch. 895, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 2005.)