State Auditor's E-Update - 5/20/2022

1. Message from Auditor Blaha

2. Relief Associations: Below-Investment-Grade Bonds

3. TIF: When Does an Authority Need to File Annual TIF Reports?

4. Released: Minnesota County Budgets Report – 2022 County Summary Budget Data Together with 2021 Summary Budget Data

5. Due: Performance Measurement Program Report by July 1, 2022

6. Avoiding Pitfall: Acceptance of Gifts to an Entity

1. Message from Auditor Blaha

This week I tested positive for COVID-19 and have been experiencing manageable symptoms. My first reaction is that I am grateful to everyone who worked to get Minnesotans vaccinated and boosted – that is why my positive test is more of an inconvenience than a major health scare.

Below are a few tools I found to be helpful as I figured out what this means for me and my family, as well as when I may safely return to in-person gatherings.

Stay safe and take care.

2. Relief Associations: Below-Investment-Grade Bonds

The Office of the State Auditor occasionally sees compliance issues when relief associations do not stay within investment portfolio limits set in statute.

A relief association has authority to invest directly, or indirectly, up to five percent of its portfolio in below-investment-grade bonds. The five-percent portfolio limit on below-investment-grade bonds includes direct investment in these types of bonds as well as investments through mutual funds or exchange-traded funds. Many relief associations invest in mutual funds that have a small allocation in these types of bonds. The portion of these mutual funds that include below-investment-grade bonds are counted toward the five-percent portfolio limit.

All unrated bonds are also counted toward the five-percent portfolio limit. Additional information about relief association investment authority is provided in the OSA’s Statement of Position on this topic.

3. TIF: When Does an Authority Need to File Annual TIF Reports?

The 2021 TIF Annual Forms are now available. Instructions were e-mailed to TIF authority contacts on May 12. If you believe you should have received one and did not, please follow up with our office at TIF@osa.state.mn.us.

Each year we receive questions concerning when an authority needs to start (and when they can stop) filing Annual TIF Reports.

The TIF Act requires that reporting begin for the year the district is certified. The authority must continue to file annual reports for the TIF district until the district is decertified, and all tax increment revenue has been expended or returned to the county auditor.

For more details, please view the following TIF Topic: When Does an Authority Need to File Annual TIF Reports?

4. Released: Minnesota County Budgets Report – 2022 County Summary Budget Data Together with 2021 Summary Budget Data

Earlier this week, the Office of the State Auditor (OSA) released the annual Minnesota County Budgets Report: 2022 County Summary Budget Data Together with 2021 Summary Budget Data.

The data reflects unaudited budgeted revenues and expenditures reported by counties to the OSA as required by Minn. Stat. § 6.745, subd. 2.

View the complete report on the OSA website.

5. Due: Performance Measurement Program Report by July 1, 2022

Participation in the Performance Measurement Program by a city or a county is voluntary. Counties and cities that choose to participate in the standard measures program must officially adopt and implement the ten minimum performance measures and system developed by the Council on Local Results and Innovation (Council).

In order to receive the per capita reimbursement, counties and cities must file a report (in a PDF format) with the Office of the State Auditor by July 1, 2022.

For more information on the Performance Measurement Program, please visit the OSA website.

6. Avoiding Pitfall: Acceptance of Gifts to an Entity

Minn. Stat. § 465.03 allows the governing body of any city, county, school district or town to accept gifts for the benefit of its citizens in accordance with terms prescribed by the donor. However, the statute requires that each gift be accepted by a resolution approved by a two-thirds majority of the governing body. Any conditions placed on the use of the gift should be fully described in the resolution.

This Avoiding Pitfall is available on our website.