OSA Weekly Update - 8/21/2026

1. Message from Auditor Blaha

2. Meeting: Fire Relief Association Working Group

3. Released: New Relief Association Training Video

4. Avoiding Pitfall: Phantom Vendors

1. Message from Auditor Blaha

Look at the attached photo and make your best guess at how many beans I used to create this year’s piece.

Enter your estimate here. Guesses are due by the end of the day on Friday, August 28, and the closest estimate wins bragging rights.

Note: This is about your best human guess. If you use AI to help calculate your estimate, let us know in your entry.

2. Meeting: Fire Relief Association Working Group

The State Auditor’s Fire Relief Association Working Group met on August 20 and reviewed potential topics for consideration this year. Working Group members discussed whether to clarify how benefits are calculated when a relief association converts from a defined benefit to a defined contribution plan. Topics held over for consideration at the next meeting are potential changes to the fire state aid program that would allow any reductions to aid due to late reporting to remain in the program, and a clarification of when required municipal contributions are levied by the county.

The next Working Group meeting will be held on Thursday, September 17, from 1 – 2:30 pm. Meeting recordings and materials are posted on the Working Group page of the OSA website.

3. Released: New Relief Association Training Video

A new training video is available that walks through the Financial Projections and Required Contribution tabs of the redesigned Schedule (SC) Form for relief associations with a defined benefit lump-sum plan.

Additional instructional videos showing how to complete relief association reporting forms can be found on the Training Opportunities page of our website.

4. Avoiding Pitfall: Phantom Vendors

One method of fraud involves payments to fictitious companies for goods never delivered or services never provided. To protect against this, public entities need procedures in place to determine whether new vendors that are added to their accounts payable system are legitimate.

The ability to set up new vendors on the accounts payable system should be limited to those individuals with a logical need for this function. When new vendors are added to the system, the vendors should be reviewed by someone outside the accounts payable system. The outside reviewer should verify that the new vendor is legitimate. Finally, the vendor list should be reviewed periodically, and unused vendors should be removed from the system.

This fraud is more likely to occur when a public entity has a large number of vendors. Warning signs of a potential “phantom vendor” include:

• Sequentially-numbered invoices from the vendor;

• Invoice amounts just below the amount needing additional approval for payment; and

• Companies with only P.O. Box addresses, companies lacking taxpayer identification numbers, or vendor identification numbers that match an employee’s social security number.

The full avoiding pitfall is available on the OSA website.

5.  Job Openings

Human Resources Technician 2 (St. Paul)

The OSA is hiring a Human Resources Technician 2 position based in the St. Paul office.

This position exists to complete HR transaction processing and reporting, give new employee orientation, assist with retirement, provide benefit information, do special event planning, complete FMLA, MPL, and other leave coordination, provide HR support services, and interpret and administer collective bargaining agreements and compensation plans. This position provides consistent, accurate, and excellent customer service to employees, supervisors, managers, and others requesting information or services from Human Resources.

The job posting will close on September 1, 2026.