State Auditor's Working Group (January 2021 Meeting)

The Volunteer Fire Relief Association Working Group convened by the Office of the State Auditor (OSA) held its last meeting of the season on January 12. The Working Group members conducted a final review and approval of draft legislation for introduction during the 2021 Legislative Session. In addition to some technical changes, the Working Group approved moving forward with:

• Changing how vesting is determined when relief associations elect to authorize combined service pension payments for firefighters with service in more than one fire department;
• Allowing relief associations with defined benefit plans to define a minimum length of time, of at least five years, during which service credit for nonvested members who have separated from firefighting service must be retained; and
• Clarifying language that defines when an audit is required, that the audit threshold is based solely on special fund assets (not special and general fund), and when a relief association’s financial reporting form must be certified by a certified public accountant.

We will keep relief association trustees updated in future editions of the Pension Division Newsletter on the progress of the Working Group legislation. Meeting agendas and materials are available on the Working Group page of the OSA website, and recordings of the meetings can be viewed on the OSA's YouTube channel. If you have questions regarding any of the Working Group proposals, please contact Rose Hennessy-Allen by email at Rose.Hennessy-Allen@osa.state.mn.us or by phone at (651) 296-5985.

Published last in the January 2021 Pension Newsletter