OSA Weekly Update - 6/28/2024

1. Message from Auditor Blaha

2. Opportunity: Fire Relief Association Working Group

3. Avoiding Pitfall: Obtaining Loans or Lines of Credit

4. Deadlines

1. Message from Auditor Blaha

2. Opportunity: Fire Relief Association Working Group

There's one open seat on the State Auditor’s Fire Relief Association Working Group. Candidates must be current trustees or members of a relief association with a defined-benefit plan. If you’d like to be considered, or have any topics you’d like the Working Group to consider taking up, contact Rose Hennessy-Allen with the OSA’s Pension Division.

The first meeting of the Working Group is scheduled for Wednesday, July 24, from 10-11:30 a.m., with options to attend in-person at our St. Paul office or remotely via Teams. Meetings will also be livestreamed, with recordings available on the OSA website.

The authority of a local unit of government to incur indebtedness is governed by statute. Many local units of government have authority to issue bonds or certificates of indebtedness for specific purposes, often subject to restrictions on amount or duration. Some local units of government are authorized to enter into a lease-purchase agreement or installment contract with a local bank, equipment company, or other entity. See, e.g., Minn. Stat. § 465.71.

School districts, with certain limitations, have specific statutory authority to obtain a line of credit from a financial institution. See e.g., Minn. Stat. § 123B.12 (b).

However, absent this type of specific authority to obtain a loan or line of credit, governmental entities may not simply go to a financial institution and take out a conventional loan or line of credit.

The full Avoiding Pitfall is available on the OSA website.