Office of the Legislative Auditor - Financial Audit Division

Report Summary

Financial Audit

Public Employees Retirement Association

Year Ended June 30, 2000

Audit Conclusions:

• We issued an unqualified opinion on the financial statements of the Public Employees Retirement Association as of and for the year ended June 30, 2000.
• We issued a Report on Compliance and Internal Control Over Financial Reporting Based on an Audit of Financial Statements Performed in Accordance with Government Auditing Standards. We did not report any material weaknesses involving the internal control over financial reporting and its operation or noncompliance that would be required to be reported under Government Auditing Standards.

The Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) administers four separate funds: the Public Employees Retirement Fund (PERF); the Public Employees Police and Fire Fund (PEPFF); the Public Employees Correctional Fund (PECF); and the Public Employees Defined Contribution Plan (PEDCP). The PERF covers employees of counties, cities and townships, and employees of schools in non-certified positions. The PEPFF covers police officers and fire-fighters. The PECF, established effective July 1, 1999, covers employees in county correctional institutions who have direct contact with inmates. The PEDCP covers elected local government officials, except elected county sheriffs, emergency medical service personnel employed by or providing service to any of the participating ambulance services, and physicians employed at public facilities.

PERA served approximately 2000 units of government and had 302,958 members in its four funds as of June 30, 2000. At June 30, 2000, PERA administered about $15.6 billion in net assets. For the year ended June 30, 2000, PERA received contributions of about $454.8 million and paid benefits and refunds of about $807.5 million.

During the fiscal year 2000 audit, our work at the Public Employees Retirement Association focused on auditing their financial statements. We reviewed the agency's internal controls and compliance with legal provisions in relation to that objective.