OSA Weekly Update - 5/29/2026

1. Message from Auditor Blaha

2. Fire Relief Associations: Pension Bill Signed into Law!

3. Avoiding Pitfall: Phising Scams

4. Job Openings

5. Deadlines

1. Message from Auditor Blaha

Announcement! If you didn’t notice last week, the OSA now uses GovDelivery to deliver our newsletters, including the Weekly Update. Our goal is to better serve our subscribers with timely information and improved accessibility.

2. Fire Relief Associations: Pension Bill Signed into Law!

Gov. Tim Walz signed the 2026 Omnibus Pension and Retirement Bill into law on May 19. This bill included all the legislative recommendations of our Fire Relief Association Working Group, including:

  • Increasing the audit threshold for relief associations from the current $750,000 to $1 million in either special fund assets or liabilities, for consistency with thresholds for other types of local governments. The audit threshold increase goes into effect on December 31, 2026, and applies to audited financial statements for calendar year 2026 and thereafter.
  • Allowing relief associations that drop below the audit threshold to have an annual agreed-upon procedures engagement performed, instead of continuing to have a required annual audit.
  • Rewriting and clarifying provisions governing service credit for firefighters who resume active fire department service after retirement or a break in service.
  • Updating definitions to include service performed by volunteer emergency medical personnel.

The OSA’s Pension Division will be providing additional information in its monthly newsletter about legislative changes affecting relief associations. If you have questions, contact our Pension team.

3. Avoiding Pitfall: Phishing Scams

Government entities, just like individuals, may be targets of "phishing" scams. In a phishing scam, an entity is sent an e-mail that may ask the recipient to “update”, “verify” or “confirm” financial account information. Often the e-mail claims to be sent from an organization that works with the government entity.

If you receive an e-mail asking for your government entity’s financial information, do not reply and do not click on any links in the message. If the message appears to be from an organization you know, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recommends that you contact the organization by using a telephone number that you know to be genuine or by opening a new Internet browser session and typing in the company’s correct Web address.

Additional tips to help you avoid getting hooked by a phishing scam are available from the FTC.

The full avoiding pitfall is available on the OSA website.

4. Job Openings

 

Director of Standards and Procedures

The OSA is hiring the Director of Standards and Procedures position based in either the St. Paul, Moorhead, Duluth, Rochester, Mankato or Marshall office.

This is a leadership position in the Audit Division responsible for overseeing technical reviews of audits completed by the OSA, providing technical guidance on accounting and auditing standards and assessing and documenting the OSA’s system of quality management. 

The job posting will close on May 29, 2026.

5. Deadlines

Cities and Townships: 2025 Annual Financial Reporting Information

For cities and townships reporting on a cash basis of accounting required to have an Audit (on the regulatory/cash basis) or Agreed Upon Procedures Engagement (AUP) completed, the Reporting Form, Audit or Financial Statements, and AUP are due June 15, 2026. For cities and townships reporting on a GAAP basis of accounting, the Reporting Form, Audit and related documents are due by June 30, 2026.

Performance Measurement Program Report by July 1, 2026

Participation in the Performance Measurement Program by a city or a county is voluntary. Counties and cities that choose to participate in the standard measures program must officially adopt and implement the ten minimum performance measures and system developed by the Council on Local Results and Innovation (Council).

In order to receive the per capita reimbursement, counties and cities must email the resolution and document as attachments in .PDF format to performancemeasures@osa.state.mn.us by July 1, 2026.