State Auditor's E-Update - 10/7/2022

1. Message from Auditor Blaha

2. Released: 2022 Fire and Police State Aid Amounts

3. TIF: Review TIF Districts for Decertification Requirements

4. Coming Soon: Registration for the OSA Local Government Training Conference

5. Avoiding Pitfall: Recording Closed Meetings

1. Message from Auditor Blaha

This week I'd like to direct your attention to item #4 on the E-Update: our annual local government training conference! This training will be presented in partnership with the National Association of State Auditor's, Comptrollers and Treasurers (NASACT). More information will be available soon -- we will share in our weekly E-Update, our social media platforms, and the OSA website.

2. Released: 2022 Fire and Police State Aid Amounts

The 2022 fire and police state aid amounts have been released by the Minnesota Department of Revenue and posted to the OSA website.

3. TIF: Review TIF Districts for Decertification Requirements

TIF districts must often be decertified by the end the year in which a duration limit or other decertification requirement is met. This is a good time of the year to review TIF districts for decertification requirements if this has not already been done. Timely decertification avoids improper receipt of tax increments in following years. If you have any questions, please contact us at TIF@osa.state.mn.us.

For more information please see Review TIF Districts for Decertification Requirements.

You may find the Confirmation of Decertified TIF District Form on the OSA website.

4. Coming Soon: Registration for the OSA Local Government Training Conference

Registration for the Office of the State Auditor's Local Government Training Conference will be available soon. Once again, the OSA is partnering with the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers (NASACT) to provide this training. The conference will once again be presented online and is scheduled for Thursday, November 17, 2022. Topics will include fraud detection, lessons learned from pandemic funding, governmental accounting update, and our annual legal compliance update.

5. Avoiding Pitfall: Recording Closed Meetings

Local government officials should be aware that Minnesota’s Open Meeting Law requires most closed meetings to be electronically recorded. The law states “[a]ll closed meetings, except those closed as permitted by the attorney-client privilege, must be electronically recorded at the expense of the public body. Unless otherwise provided by law, the recordings must be preserved for at least three years after the date of the meeting.”

The Avoiding Pitfall is available on the OSA website.