Auditor Blaha Releases 2022 Fire Relief Association Financial and Investment Report - April 9, 2024

Saint Paul, MN - “Relief associations weathered the market downturn of 2022,” said Auditor Blaha. “Even though the average rate of return was negative 14.3 percent for the period covered in this report, the average relief association still ended the year with a funding ratio well over 100 percent.”

A fire relief association is a governmental entity that receives and manages public money used to provide retirement benefits to firefighters and first responders. The relief association is a separate entity from its affiliated city or town fire department and is governed by its own board of trustees. Relief associations have various reporting requirements with the Office of the State Auditor as well as other state and federal agencies. They qualify to receive state aid based on the completion of these annual reports.

“Trustees need to remember that relief associations are not banks,” added Auditor Blaha. “While over 42 percent of relief associations increased lump sum benefit levels during the year, the funding sufficiencies show there’s still some room to raise retirement benefits and get surplus assets into the hands of firefighters.”

Most firefighters in Minnesota are volunteer or paid on-call firefighters and perform this essential public service while also having separate full-time jobs. Relief associations pay retirement benefits to these firefighters after they have completed a minimum length of fire department service and have met additional minimum requirements. Relief association service pensions are an important tool to help recruit and retain firefighters in Minnesota and reward them for their service to their local communities.

Some highlights from the report include:

• Relief associations held $596.0 million in net assets at the end of 2022, representing accrued benefits for 15,326 firefighters.
• Relief associations received $25.4 million in state aid and $5.1 million in municipal contributions during 2022.
• A total of $44.5 million in service pensions was paid out by 279 different relief associations in 2022.
• The average lump sum benefit level for relief associations during 2022 was $2,560 per year of service.

View the Fire Relief Association Financial and Investment Report on the OSA website.

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