State Auditor Blaha Releases 2021 County Budgets Summary Report - April 27, 2021

Saint Paul, MN – Earlier today, State Auditor Julie Blaha released the 2021 Minnesota County Summary Budget Report. The 2021 county budgets, which were adopted in November and December of 2020, provide a snapshot of financial priorities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In 2020, counties faced a careful balancing act and stayed on their feet,” said Auditor Blaha. “While the COVID-19 pandemic placed budget pressure on counties, a mix of federal aid, spending reductions, and use of fund balances helped many Minnesota counties in 2020. The 2021 budget trends show that counties are approaching 2021 with caution by controlling expenditures, continuing to rely on property taxes, and using fund balances to help stabilize budgets,” continued Blaha.

This report presents the 2021 summary budget data together with 2020 original and revised summary budget data. The data reflects unaudited budgeted revenues and expenditures reported by counties to the Office of the State Auditor (OSA) as required by Minn. Stat. § 6.745, subd. 2. The data in this report is best used as a tool to help review budget decisions for 2020 and 2021. These budgets represent a plan, reported by the counties, for the coming year. Rarely do actual revenues and expenditures match the amounts budgeted. In addition, the data reported does not represent all counties revenues and expenditures.

Counties report budget data only for funds for which an annual budget is adopted. Counties with funds where annual budgets are not adopted would have more revenues and expenditures than reported here. Also, the revenues and expenses of county public service enterprises are not included. The inclusion of enterprise funds would significantly alter the revenue and expenditure trends of counties. Because of the limitations of budget data, as it is a plan, the OSA recommends using the financial information provided in our publication, Minnesota County Finances, which includes the actual audited county revenues and expenditures.

To view the complete scope of the report click here: https://www.osa.state.mn.us/media/0dwbtxok/cobudget_21_report.pdf