OSA Weekly Update - 2/9/2024
1. Message from Auditor Blaha
2. Released: 2022 Town Finances Report
3. Released: 2022 TIF Annual Legislative Report
4. Relief Associations: Supplemental Benefit Reimbursement Form
5. Avoiding Pitfall: Employee Tips
6. Upcoming Deadlines
1. Message from Auditor Blaha
Keep ‘em coming! We got a great response on last week’s request for ideas about streamlining audit standards to increase efficiency and effectiveness. Let’s keep that going: What are your thoughts on audit parameters for Minnesota local government? Do you have ideas to improve the frequency and type of audit engagements? Do you have ideas about who should be able to use a cash basis for their accounting? Do you have thoughts about deadlines and thresholds that could better align our system? Send these and any other ideas you have to outreach@osa.state.mn.us.
2. Released: 2022 Town Finances Report
The annual Town Finances Report , a comprehensive report on revenues, expenditures, and debt for Minnesota towns, has been released. This report analyzes town financial operations for the calendar year ended December 31, 2022. The 2022 Minnesota Town Finances report shows revenues and expenditures increased while debt service decreased from 2021.
You can view the complete report, which includes an Executive Summary, graphs, and tables, on the OSA website.
The 2022 Minnesota town revenues and expenditures have been updated in the Comparison Tool. The Comparison Tool allows you to compare information for the same town for two different years, or to compare one town to another town.
3. Released: 2022 TIF Annual Legislative Report
This week State Auditor Julie Blaha released the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Legislative Report. The Report summarizes 2022 activity reported in 2023 by 380 development authorities for 1,669 districts and provides a summary of the violations cited in the limited-scope reviews conducted by the Office of the State Auditor in 2023.
The press release with highlights from the Report is available on the OSA website.
4. Relief Associations: Supplemental Benefit Reimbursement Form
A final reminder that fire relief associations wishing to seek reimbursement of supplemental benefits paid during 2023 must complete the Supplemental Benefit Reimbursement Form posted on the Minnesota Department of Revenue (DOR)’s website. The form is due to the DOR by February 15, 2024, to receive reimbursement in March 2024.
See the OSA’s Statement of Position for additional information on how supplemental benefits are calculated and the reimbursement process.
5. Avoiding Pitfall: Employee Tips
Studies show that the most common method of detecting fraud committed by an employee is through a tip – often from another employee. Public entities should keep channels of communication open so employees feel that their concerns will be positively received. Appropriate action should then be taken in response to these tips.
For more information on employee theft, see the most recent study by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, the 2022 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse. To see key findings of the report, click here.
The full Avoiding Pitfall is available on the OSA website.
6. Upcoming Deadlines
2023 Annual Forfeiture Expenditures Report by February 28, 2024
Law enforcement agencies and prosecuting authorities, please remember to report expenditure of forfeited property proceeds, including proceeds received through state and federal forfeiture law to the Office of the State Auditor (OSA) by February 28, 2024.
Instructions for the Forfeiture Expenditures form may be found on the OSA website.
Reporting must be done using the online reporting tool available in SAFES.
If you have not used SAFES in the past and need a username and password, please send your contact information including name, title, entity mailing address, and phone number to SAFES@osa.state.mn.us.
If you have questions or need assistance completing the form, please contact Christy John at 651-297-3681 or Christy.John@osa.state.mn.us.