OSA Weekly Update - 10/2/2026

1. Message from Auditor Blaha

2. Meeting: Fire Relief Association Working Group

3. Available: 2027 User Authorization Form

4. TIF: Deadline Reminders

5. Avoiding Pitfall: Reconciliations

6. Job Openings

1. Message from Auditor Blaha

This weekend, as a board member of Minnesota Housing, I’ll be in Detroit for the National Conference of State Housing Boards. I’d love to hear your housing ideas! What are the housing challenges facing your community? Has your community found solutions that improved housing outcomes?

You can send your feedback to External Affairs Specialist Burke Spizale.

2. Meeting: Fire Relief Association Working Group

The State Auditor’s Fire Relief Association Working Group will be meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 6, from 1 – 2:30 p.m., with options to attend in-person at our office in Saint Paul or remotely via Teams. Meetings also will be livestreamed to the OSA YouTube channel, with recordings and meeting materials available on the Working Group page of the OSA website.

3. Available: 2027 User Authorization Form

The 2027 User Authorization Form is now available for download from the OSA website. The form authorizes the OSA to grant reporting access and submission rights to the State Auditor’s Form Entry System (SAFES) and certain offline documents through the 2027 calendar year on behalf of a local government entity (including a fire relief association) to someone who is not an officer, employee, or trustee of the entity.

4. TIF: Deadline Reminders

TIF authorities required to decertify a district in 2026 under the Six-Year Rule should be aware of deadlines to both make the decertification by resolution and to communicate the decertification to the county auditor. If the required decertification had been deferred by a qualifying pay-as-you-go (PAYG) note but is now required because the note reached termination in 2026, the decertification and notification of the county auditor is due by Dec. 31, 2026. Otherwise, the decertification (effective for the end of the calendar year 2026) and notification must be done no later than the final settlement date of Jan. 25, 2027. However, decertifications should be made and communicated to county auditors as early as possible to enable them to execute the decertification in a timely manner and prevent an extra year of calculated increment that would need to be returned.

For more information, see our Statement of Position: TIF Five-Year Rule and Six-Year Rule. Our website also has videos on the Six-Year Rule.

5. Avoiding Pitfall: Reconciliations

Reconciliations are important checks. They compare two sets of related records or balances from different sources. These checks help find differences between the records or balances.

When differences appear, you should:

  1. Find out why they happened, like timing differences or errors.

  2. Fix the differences as soon as you can.

  3. Keep documentation that explains how you solved the differences.

Supervisors should periodically review key reconciliations to make sure that:

  1. Staff perform reconciliations on time.

  2. Staff clearly explain and fix the differences.

The full Avoiding Pitfall is available on the OSA website.

6. Job Openings

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Local Government Auditor, Senior (Moorhead)

The OSA is hiring a Local Government Auditor, Senior (Moorhead). This Senior level auditor position is responsible for assisting in the audits of local governments by ensuring that appropriate procedures are performed that are necessary to determine the reliability of clients’ financial statements and compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.

The job posting will close Oct. 13, 2026.

Local Government Auditors (Duluth)

The OSA is hiring a Local Government Auditor (Duluth). As a team member of the Audit Practice Division, this entry-level auditor position assists in the audits of Minnesota local governments by performing procedures necessary to determine the reliability of clients’ financial statements and compliance with legal and federal requirements.

The job posting will close on Oct. 19, 2026.

Local Government Auditor Staff Specialist (Duluth)

The OSA is hiring a Local Government Auditor Staff Specialist (Duluth). This position is responsible for assisting in the audits of local governments by ensuring that appropriate procedures are performed that are necessary to determine the reliability of clients’ financial statements and compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.

The job posting will close on Oct. 19, 2026.