OSA Weekly Update - 1/10/2025
1. Message from Auditor Blaha
2. MN Port Authority Clean Energy (PACE) Loans: Update in Guidance
3. Available: Fire State Aid Reporting
4. TIF: Authorization for TIF Consultants to Access SAFES
5. Avoiding Pitfall: Segregation of Duties - Part I
6. Deadlines
1. Message from Auditor Blaha
Do you use Roberts Rules for your entity’s meetings? Are you sure? With all the attention on quorum and legislative rules, it’s a good time to confirm your entity’s parliamentary authority. A parliamentary authority is the set of rules you use if there aren’t laws, local charters, or specific local rules that lay out how to conduct business. Robert’s Rules of Order is the most common in local groups, while most state legislatures (including Minnesota) use Mason’s Manual and Congress uses Jefferson’s Manual. There are several differences between these authorities, so be careful about copying a procedure from another level of government. Take a moment to double-check your parliamentary authority - bonus points if you can dig out the book.
2. MN Port Authority Clean Energy (PACE) Loans: Update in Guidance
The Fiduciary Activity Resource Guide has been updated for new PACE loan guidance.
Further guidance from GASB has indicated that the PACE loan activity should be recorded in a custodial fund.
The OSA is recommending this change beginning with financial statements ending December 31, 2024.
3. Available: Fire State Aid Reporting
Form FA-1 is now available on the Minnesota Department of Revenue (DOR)’s website and must be submitted to the DOR by March 17, 2025, to avoid a reduction in fire state aid. A Fire Service Areas report is also posted at the above link, with information on the documentation that the DOR needs to confirm any fire department service area changes. Instructions for completing the form and a list of forms received by the DOR are also provided.
4. TIF: Authorization for TIF Consultants to Access SAFES
All consultants and non-authority employees who need to access SAFES on behalf of a TIF authority must annually file an authorization form with the OSA. The authorization form for 2025 is available at SAFES. The form may be submitted by e-mail, fax, or US mail.
This form is not required for employees of TIF authorities or counties. Send contact changes or requests for employee access to TIF@osa.state.mn.us along with contact information (title, primary email, phone number, and mailing address).
5. Avoiding Pitfall: Segregation of Duties - Part I
When employee responsibilities are arranged so that the work of one employee is checked by another, it is called “segregation of duties.”
Ideally, no single official or employee should be able to:
1. Authorize a transaction;
2. Record the transaction in the entity’s books; and
3. Obtain custody of the item resulting from the transaction.
Examples of incompatible duties that should be performed by separate individuals include:
- Receipting collections, posting collections to registers, and making bank deposits; or
- Signing checks and reconciling the bank accounts.
To put it another way, a person should not be in a position to commit an irregularity and cover it up.
The Avoiding Pitfall is available on the OSA website.
6. Deadlines
Due: 2025 Summary City and County Budget Form by January 31, 2025
The 2025 Summary City and County Budget Form is now available through SAFES.
The form is due by January 31, 2025. You will need a SAFES User ID and Password to access the Form. If you need a SAFES User ID and Password, please send an email to SAFES@osa.state.mn.us with your name, title, entity, public mailing address, email, and phone number. Instructions on completing the form are located on the OSA website.
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