Opinion No. (2004)

BILL LOCKYER Attorney General GREGORY L. GONOT Deputy Attorney General THE HONORABLE JOSEPH CANCIAMILLA, MEMBER OF THE STATE ASSEMBLY, has requested an opinion on the following questions: 1. With respect to a board of retirement that has appointed personnel under the 1937 County Employees' Retirement Law, are capital expenses incurred in the operation of the retirement system to be treated as an "expense of administration" subject to the annual limitation on "expense incurred" by the system? 2. If so, are capital expenses to be accounted for on an accrual basis in accordance with standards established by the State Controller and the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, which allocate capital expenses to the periods when the assets are used? CONCLUSIONS 1. With respect to a board of retirement that has appointed personnel under the 1937 County Employees' Retirement Law, capital expenses incurred in the operation of the retirement system are to be treated as an "expense of administration" subject to the annual limitation on "expense incurred" by the system. 2. Capital expenses incurred by a board of retirement that has appointed personnel under the 1937 County Employees'…