GASB mulls changes in accounting for infrastructure assets

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board is considering changes in the financial reporting rules for infrastructure assets and is looking for feedback.

GASB issued a preliminary views document on infrastructure assets Thursday seeking public comments on proposals associated with accounting and financial reporting for infrastructure assets by state and local governments. 

The PV, Infrastructure Assets, arrives at a relatively early stage of the project. The goal of the project is to reexamine issues associated with accounting and financial reporting for infrastructure assets and consider improvements to the existing guidance. The improvements relate to recognition and measurement, note disclosures and required supplementary information.

The proposals come at a time when state and local governments have received an infusion of funding for infrastructure projects thanks to the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.

GASB’s pre-agenda research indicated that financial statement users want better information about the condition of infrastructure assets and how the government is maintaining those assets than what is currently available in financial statements. The PV presents GASB’s current thinking on how to provide users with that information.

Under GASB’s preliminary views, infrastructure assets would be defined as individual assets that can consist of multiple components that are part of a network of long-lived capital assets that are utilized to provide a particular type of public service, that are stationary in nature, and that can be maintained or preserved for a significant number of years. Typical examples include roads, bridges and tunnels.

The PV proposes to carry forward the existing recognition and measurement requirements for infrastructure assets that allow state and local governments to measure infrastructure using historical cost net of accumulated depreciation unless the government elects to use the modified approach. The document proposes that governments reporting infrastructure assets measured at historical cost net of accumulated depreciation periodically review estimated useful lives and salvage value. The document also proposes that governments separately depreciate each component of an infrastructure asset that is significant to the total cost of the asset if the useful lives of these components are different.

The PV also proposes that governments electing to report infrastructure assets using the modified approach have processes in place to document that the condition of the assets is being preserved at a level established by the government.

The document proposes to remove some of the existing note disclosures related to infrastructure assets. It also proposes to add four new note disclosures, including a disclosure of maintenance or preservation expenses and another disclosure of assets reported using historical cost net of accumulated depreciation that have exceeded 80% of their estimated useful lives. A related schedule of maintenance expenses over the past 10 fiscal years is also proposed to be included in required supplementary information.

GASB is asking its stakeholders to review and provide input on the PV document by Jan. 17, 2025. Comments can be submitted either through a comment letter or an electronic input form. The board has also scheduled a series of public hearings and user forums on the PV to allow stakeholders to share their views. More information on the public hearings and user forums is available in the document.