A fire relief association is a governmental entity that also is a nonprofit organization, that receives and manages public money to provide retirement benefits for individuals providing the governmental services of firefighting and emergency first response. The relief association is a separate entity from the affiliated fire department and is governed by its own board of trustees. Relief associations have reporting requirements with the Office of the State Auditor (OSA), as well as with other state and federal agencies. The OSA certifies relief associations as eligible for state aid once all reporting information has been received, and any identified issues have been resolved.
Search to find a relief association’s status in meeting its requirements with the OSA to be certified as eligible for fire state aid, view the status of relief association report submissions, and confirm the status of the OSA’s review of the submitted reports in our Fire Relief Association Reporting Compliance Dashboard.
Search to find a relief association’s status in meeting its requirements with the OSA to be certified as eligible for fire state aid, view the status of relief association report submissions, and confirm the status of the OSA’s review of the submitted reports in our Fire Relief Association Reporting Compliance Dashboard.
Visit our Key Reporting Requirements Calendar to view fire relief association reporting requirements and due dates with the OSA. The OSA also has a training video that walks through the Reporting Requirements for Fire Relief Associations.
Under Minnesota law, a city or town fire department is a part of the city or town, just like the public works or parks and recreation departments are departments of the city or town. The fire department is not a separate governmental entity.
A fire relief association is generally affiliated with a city or town fire department and is a separate governmental entity from the city or town. One way in which a relief association differs from a city or town fire department is that a relief association is required to maintain control of its own funds. It receives and manages public money to offer retirement benefits for those providing firefighting and emergency first response services.
Each relief association is governed by a board of trustees, which includes three municipal representatives. Cities and towns are sometimes required to provide financial support to their affiliated relief association. Minnesota law requires that certain types of relief association decisions be ratified by the affiliated city or town. Additional information is provided in our Pension Topic on ratification requirements.
More information on the differences in fire department and fire relief association accounts can be found in our Statement of Position.
The board consists of nine members: six trustees elected from the relief association’s membership, and three trustees from the municipality or municipalities. How municipal representatives are designated and who designates them depends on the legal structure of the fire department with which the relief association is associated. The municipal trustees for a relief association associated with a municipal 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, including the fire chief, has all the rights and duties of any other trustee, except the right to be an officer of the relief association board of trustees.
A board must have at least three officers elected by the full board or by the membership, as specified in the bylaws. The officers are elected from among the elected trustees. A trustee may hold only one elected office at a time on the board. Elected trustees and officers may be elected for terms not to exceed three years, as specified in the bylaws. If the terms exceed one year, the elections should be staggered on as equal a basis as is practicable.
All trustees, including the three municipal trustees, are fiduciaries. Each trustee must act in good faith and exercise the degree of judgment and care that a person of prudence, discretion and intelligence would exercise in the management of that person’s own affairs.
The board’s responsibilities include: determining plan benefits and eligibility for membership or benefits; determining the amount or duration of benefits; determining funding requirements and contribution amounts; maintaining necessary administrative records; reviewing expenditures; and investing pension plan assets.
More information can be found in our Statement of Position on Fire Relief Association Governance.
Reporting forms for fire relief associations are annually required to be submitted to the Office of the State Auditor (OSA) by June 30. Relief associations with assets or liabilities of at least $750,000 must also submit audited financial statements annually to the OSA. Visit our Key Reporting Requirements Calendar to view relief association reporting requirements with the OSA.
The $750,000 statutory threshold is determined using prior year-end asset and liability amounts and is based on Special Fund amounts only. After a relief association exceeds the threshold in either assets or liabilities, according to the previous year’s financial report, an audit is required beginning the following year, even if the relief association’s assets and liabilities subsequently drop below the threshold.
Relief associations with assets and liabilities that are both less than $750,000 and have not exceeded the threshold in a prior year are permitted to have their annual financial reporting form attested to by a certified public accountant in accordance with agreed-upon procedures prescribed by the OSA instead of having an audit performed. These relief associations must also submit an Independent Accountant’s Report on Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures.
More information can be found in our Pension Topic titled Resources for Auditors.