OSA Weekly Update - 9/12/2025
1. Message from Auditor Blaha
2. Reminder: Copies of Completed TIF Forms
3. Meeting: Fire Relief Association Working Group
4. Avoiding Pitfall: Written Contracts
1. Message from Auditor Blaha
Fourteen days ago, Minnesota was shaken by the Annunciation school shooting. Families are still sitting at a hospital bedside, and communities are still carrying fresh grief. I’m also still processing the loss of Speaker Melissa Hortman from earlier this summer. Her assassination from gun violence left a hole in my heart and our state.
Today, we’ve learned that Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University. My heart goes out to his family as they begin to carry this loss. I couldn’t even process that news before I saw headlines of a shooting at Evergreen High School in Colorado, where students are now fighting for their lives.
Offering my condolences has become too familiar. It feels hollow. These tragedies keep stacking one on top of another. We have a gun problem. And until we face it, families will keep being shattered, and leaders, children, and community members will keep being lost.
2. Reminder: Copies of Completed TIF Forms
As a reminder, authorities must provide copies of completed TIF Annual Reporting Forms and the Annual Disclosure to their county auditor and, if the authority is not the municipality, to the municipality’s governing body.
If you have any questions contact us at TIF@osa.state.mn.us.
3. Meeting: Fire Relief Association Working Group
The State Auditor’s Fire Relief Association Working Group will be meeting on Sept. 16, from 2-3:30 p.m., with options to attend in person at our office in Saint Paul or remotely via Teams. Meetings also will be livestreamed with recordings and meeting materials available on the OSA website. Topics on the meeting agenda include a review of draft language increasing the audit threshold and clarifying service credit for firefighters who return to active service after a break in service, and a discussion of how breaks in service are defined.
4. Avoiding Pitfall: Written Contracts
Public entities should have contracts whenever practicable. Even when the dollar amounts involved are small, contracts help both sides understand their obligations. The simple act of recording the contract provisions can help clarify what is expected, and can minimize disputes down the road.
Your entity's attorney should be able to assist you in drafting contracts. General guidance on contracts and sample contracts are available from the League of Minnesota Cities and from the Minnesota Association of Townships.
The full Avoiding Pitfall is available on the OSA website.