State Auditor's E-Update - 8/5/2022
1. Message from Auditor Blaha
2. Pension: Municipal Trustees
3. Available: 2022 TIF Training Recording Videos
4. Avoiding Pitfall: County Commissioner Compensation
1. Message from Auditor Blaha
This week I attended Farmfest in Redwood County, MN (see photo below).
An important part of my job as State Auditor is to sit on the Board of the Rural Finance Authority (RFA). The RFA provides low interest loans to support farmers as they get started with their business, make farm improvements, and reorganize debt.
While one of my roles on the Board is to help with the financial technicalities, my main job is to listen and follow the lead of Minnesota farmers on the authority.
The RFA is one of my favorite examples of state and local partnership. The State is able to offer a low interest rate because it does not make a profit from the loans distributed. This also provides an opportunity for partnership between farmers and local lenders.
2. Pension: Municipal Trustees
A volunteer fire relief association must be managed by a board of trustees. The board consists of nine members: six trustees elected from the relief association’s membership, and three trustees from the municipality or municipalities. The municipal trustees for a relief association affiliated with a city or town fire department are the fire chief, one elected municipal official, and one elected or appointed municipal official.
The municipal governing body designates the elected municipal official and the elected or appointed municipal official who serve as trustees, and their terms are for one year. A municipal trustee has all the rights and duties of any other trustee, except the right to be an officer of the relief association board of trustees. All trustees, including the three municipal trustees, are fiduciaries.
For additional information, see the Office of the State Auditor’s Statement of Position on relief association governance.
3. Available: 2022 TIF Training Recording Videos
The Office of the State Auditor (OSA) offered training via webinar for individuals involved in the administration of tax increment financing (TIF). If you missed them or would like to revisit portions, recordings of the "An Introduction to TIF" and "Administration for Authority Staff" webinars are now available on the Training Opportunities section of our website.
If you have any questions please contact us at TIF@osa.state.mn.us.
4. Avoiding Pitfall: County Commissioner Compensation
Like most governing bodies, county boards set their own level of compensation. Unlike other governing bodies, increases in salary and per diem rates for county commissioners in counties other than Hennepin and Ramsey cannot take effect until January 1 of the year following the county board’s action.
For example, any increase in compensation for 2023 must be adopted in a resolution by the county board before the end of 2022. The resolution must state the new salary on an annual basis. Decreases in salary or per diem, however, may take effect at any time. See Minn. Stat. § 375.055.
The Avoiding Pitfall is available on the OSA website.
