County School Boards Lining up to Sue over OPEB

The Charleston Daily Mail counts at least 20 of West Virginia's 55 county school systems ready or expected to file a legal challenge over how they're required to account for the "other post-employment benefits" of their teachers and school personnel.

New rules require government employers to calculate the funding gaps between on-hand assets and OPEB benefits _ mostly health care _ promised to their future retirees.

"School officials fear that merely noting the unfunded liabilities on their financial statements will hurt school system credit ratings and make borrowing to build new schools via bond sales more expensive," the article said. "They want the state to either move the liabilities onto its own books or give the counties enough money to cover the liabilities."

Update: Wood County Superintendent Bill Niday, whose school system has helped lead the charge against the rule, told the Daily Mail that "the plan is to give the state 30 days notice at the end of August and file a lawsuit by early October. It is not yet clear whom the suit will name as defendants."