State Auditor's E-Update - 9/23/2022

1. Message from Auditor Blaha

2. Pension: Maximum Benefit Level Changes for Fire Relief Associations

3. Reminder: TIF Excess Increment Deadline

4. Avoiding Pitfall: Scrap and Salvage Proceeds

1. Message from Auditor Blaha

You are invited to join State Auditor Julie Blaha on Thursday, September 29 at 4:00 pm for a webinar on climate change and the Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI). The webinar will review the findings and recommendations of a year-long study on the impacts of climate change on investment. Auditor Blaha will be joined by the Meketa Investment Group Head of Sustainability, Sarah Bernstein, who is the lead author of the in-depth study on climate risks and opportunities facing the SBI. The Climate Change Investment Analysis Report can be found on the SBI website.

You can register for the webinar on Zoom. Please share with your network and encourage others to join! Updates and additional details may be found on our website and on our Facebook event page.

2. Pension: Maximum Benefit Level Changes for Fire Relief Associations

The 2022 Pension and Retirement Bill that was passed into law in May includes changes that will eliminate the requirement that each relief association with a defined benefit plan annually determine its maximum allowable benefit level. After the 2022 law changes go into effect on January 1, 2023, a relief association will no longer be required to calculate a maximum allowable benefit level specific to its plan. Instead, all relief associations will be held to the same maximum allowable benefit levels, which are $15,000 per year of service for lump‐sum benefits or $100 for monthly benefits.

See the OSA article that discusses the maximum benefit level changes in more detail.

3. Reminder: TIF Excess Increment Deadline

If a TIF district had excess increment calculated for 2021 it must be used for allowable purposes or returned to the county auditor by September 30th. For more information, please see our article: Excess Increment Deadline Reminder.

If you have any questions please contact us at TIF@osa.state.mn.us.

4. Avoiding Pitfall: Scrap and Salvage Proceeds

Public entities may at times receive money from the sale of scrap or other salvaged materials. This money is not “found” money that can simply be retained and spent by the department that controls the materials. Instead, the money must be treated like other public funds and promptly turned over to the officer of the public entity authorized to have custody of its funds, who in most cases will be the treasurer. This officer should then deposit those funds in the public entity’s accounts and entry into them into the accounting system.

The Avoiding Pitfall is available on the OSA website.