OSA Weekly Update - 6/14/2024

1. Message from Auditor Blaha

2. TIF: Documenting Pay-As-You-Go Expenditures

3. Reminder: 2023 Fire Relief Association Reporting due June 30, 2024

4. Avoiding Pitfall

5. Deadlines

1. Message from Auditor Blaha

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) turns 40 today! GASB creates the objective, independent standards on which we do government audits and other oversight.  From GASB chair Joel Black: “The GASB held its first meeting on June 14, 1984, at the Board’s offices in High Ridge Park in Stamford, CT. Since that day, our Board and staff have worked to develop and maintain high-quality accounting and financial reporting standards for state and local governments across the United States. Ultimately, those standards have helped ensure that users of government financial statements have access to information they can use to make decisions and assess accountability.” To better understand those standards, visit the GASB website.

2. TIF: Documenting Pay-As-You-Go Expenditures

Many TIF districts have pay-as-you-go (PAYG) obligations in which the developer pays up-front costs and is reimbursed with tax increments. Those costs must be substantiated as TIF-eligible costs and documented. For more information, see the full TIF Topic: Documenting Pay-As-You-Go Expenditures.

If you have any questions, please contact us at TIF@osa.state.mn.us.

3. Reminder: 2023 Fire Relief Association Reporting due June 30, 2024

Reporting forms and audited financial statements for fire relief associations with at least $750,000 in assets or liabilities are due by June 30. Reporting forms are accessed and submitted through the State Auditor’s Form Entry System (SAFES). The forms can be signed electronically in SAFES or paper signature pages can be submitted. Additional information is provided in the Reporting Checklist.

Original itemized receipts and invoices, whether maintained in paper or electronic form, should be retained by public entities to support claims paid.

The full itemized receipts are needed to determine the date, time and items purchased. For example, a signature receipt alone from a credit card purchase would not provide adequate detail such as the time of the purchase, or whether unauthorized purchases (such as alcoholic beverages or meals for additional individuals) were made.

For those entities retaining receipts/invoices in paper form, retained originals have value because scanned copies may not reveal changes made to the original receipt/invoice. Some instances of fraud that the OSA has seen include a photocopy of a credit card statement that did not show that an unauthorized item (e.g., “cash withdrawal - casino”) had been replaced with a legitimate vendor’s name. Similarly, we have seen receipts that were cut, taped and photocopied to hide unauthorized purchases. Other manipulations have included the alteration of the date, time or vendor on the receipt

The statute requiring the itemization of claims is Minn. Stat. § 471.38.