The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) has issued a proposal that would require state and local governments to present five-year projections of cash inflows, cash outflows, and financial obligations that would be submitted as supplemental information along with their regular financial reports.
Two local government officals and Governmental Affairs and Policy Committee members note that their local governments already produced three-year financial projections, and that stretching them out any longer would not be useful since, given current economic conditions, they would be “complete guess work.” Another manager wonders if the request for five-year projections is related to recent high profile news of municipal bankruptcies.
GASB is seeking public comment on this proposal. To join in the discussion of how this proposal would impact your financial reporting operations go to the Knowledge Network.