OSA Weekly Update - 11/1/2024
1. Message from Auditor Blaha
2. Deadline: State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Obligation of Funds
3. Pension: Fire Relief Association Reporting Dashboard
4. Avoiding Pitfall: Hearings on Municipal Liquor Store Losses
5. Job Openings
1. Message from Auditor Blaha
Local elections matter and if you’re reading this, you will likely stay up late Tuesday night following the election results that don’t always make the news. Bookmark the Secretary of State’s election results page to follow results of all elections in Minnesota. And if you are up following your own race, I want to thank you for putting yourself out there to serve your neighbors. Running for office is exciting, terrifying, and deeply humbling. Putting your name on a ballot is an act of courage and a show of faith in democracy. No matter how the votes fall, you’ve done something important for your community and you deserve our gratitude.
2. Deadline: State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Obligation of Funds
For recipients who received State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) and have remaining dollars unspent, please remember that SLFRF must be obligated by December 31, 2024, and to expend obligated funds by December 31, 2026 (with the exception of projects under the Surface Transportation projects and Title I eligible use categories, for which funds must be expended by September 30, 2026).
The obligation deadline applies to the recipient of SLFRF, and a cost is considered to have been incurred once a recipient enters into a subaward or contract that obligates the recipient to cover that cost. Neither subrecipients nor contractors need to take additional steps to obligate SLFRF after entering into a subaward or contract with the recipient.
3. Pension: Fire Relief Association Reporting Dashboard
A reporting status dashboard for fire relief associations is provided on the OSA website. The dashboard is a helpful tool for checking on a relief association’s status in meeting its requirements with the OSA to qualify for fire state aid, to view the status of relief association report submissions, and to see the status of the OSA’s review of the submitted reports. The dashboard also allows you to see geographically where reports have been filed or are outstanding.
4. Avoiding Pitfall: Hearings on Municipal Liquor Store Losses
Cities operating municipal liquor stores must hold a public hearing not more than 45 days prior to the end of the fiscal year regarding the future of the liquor store if the operation of the liquor store has experienced losses, before transfers and without regard to costs related to pension obligations of store employees, as required by Statement 68 of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, in any two of the past three consecutive years.
The governing statute is Minn. Stat. § 340A.602. The public hearing must be held not more than 45 days prior to the end of the fiscal year following the three-year period. For example, a city with liquor store operations that experienced two years of losses during the three-year period ending December 31, 2023, must hold a public hearing on or after November 15, 2024.
The full Avoiding Pitfall is available on the OSA website.
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