Minnesota Legal Compliance Audit Guide for Local Government - Introduction

Minnesota Office Of The State Auditor

Informations

• Publié par: Zuwyor
• Nombre de lectures: 8
• Langue: English

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INTRODUCTION

This Legal Compliance AuditGuide was prepared by the Office of the State Auditor pursuant to Minn. Stat .§ 6.65,in consultat ionw it h represent at ivesf romt heAt t orney General’ sOff ice,t ow ns,cit ies,count ies,school district s,and private sector public account ant s.The purpose oft het askf orcew ast oestablish minimum compliance guidelines for verification by auditors engaged in the process ofaudit ingpolit ical subdivisions oft hest at e.

This guide is divided into specific sections and presented in checklist form to assist the audit orof government units in the verif icat ionof stat ut orycompliance. Theguide is not meant to be a complete compilation of all laws aff ect ingmunicipalit iesor a complet eanalysis oft helaw scit edthroughout. Thechecklist ismeant to act as a ref erenceguide regarding minimum legal compliance, and municipal auditors must examine, in addition to applicable law s cited in t he guide,t hoselaw s creat ing,grant ing pow ert o,and restricting the municipal entit iest heyare auditing.

Under each section, except for the initial question establishing the transact ioncov ered by the topic heading and except where the explanation of a given question indicates ot herw ise,all questions should be answered in the aff irmat ive.A negative answer indicat esa compliance problem,and the user oft hechecklist is directed to the statut orysect ionindicated on the lefthand side of the page.If aft erexamination of t heappropriat estat ut e,t he auditorusing this manual is still unsure as to whet hert here has been legal compliance, he or she should check wit hlegal counsel before rendering t heopinion on compliance contained at the end ofeach section.

AUDITOR' SREPORTS ON COMPLIA NCE

Chapt er6 contains five model reports, one of which is to be completed by the auditor f ollow inghis or her completion of the appropriate compliance sections.

These reports or the language from these reports must be issued as partof the audits of the governmental entities or relief associations.

PREPARATION OF MINUTES

Audit ingf orlegal compliance will require a review of the minutes oft hegoverning body. Inmany instances, the minutes will be inadequate histories oft hemeet ings involv ed.We have, theref ore,deemed it appropriate to include belowa discussion of minut es,so that in those instances where the minutes are substandard, auditors can provide a standard to assistclient sin the future recording ofmeeting minutes.

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Minut esmay be defined as a record of the "proceedings" of adeliberat ivebody. Various statutes that refer to taking or publishing minutes use the term "proceedings" or "of f icialproceedings." SeeMinn. Stat. §§384.0 9(count ies),4 12.1 51,subd. 1 (st at ut orycit ies),3 67.1 1(1)(t ow ns),and 123B.09, subd. 10 (school districts). The Minnesot aAt t orneyGeneral has used the definit ionof "proceedings" found at Minn. St at .§ 331A.0 1,subd. 6, in analyzing the clerk's duties to take minutes. Thisst atut e st ates:

" Proceedings"means the substance ofall off icialact ionstaken by the governing body ofa local public corporation at any regular or special meet ing,and at minimum includes the subjectmatt erof amot ion,t he persons making and seconding a motion, the roll call voteon amot ion, t hecharact erof resolutions or ordinances off ered,including a brief descript ionof their subjectmatt er,and whet herdef eat edor adopted.

While minutes mustspecif icallyident if yt heact ionst akenby the body, they neednot record the discussions oft hemembers and others. Ata minimum,t heminut esmust include the information required by Minnesot aSt at ut es,chapt er1 3D[Minnesot aOpen Meet ingLaw ],unless such information is recorded elsewhere. Minn. Stat §13D.01, subdivision 4 provides:

The votes oft hem embersof the state agency, board, commission, or depart ment;or of the governing body,commit t ee,subcommit t ee,board, depart ment,or commission on an action taken in a meeting required by t hissect iont obe open to the public mustbe recorded in a journal kept f ort hatpurpose. . .The vote ofeach member must be recorded on each appropriation of money, except for payments ofjudgments, claims, and amount sf ixedby stat ut e.

In addition, subdivision 5 stat es,“ [t ]hejournal must be open to the public during all normal business hours where records oft hepublic body are kept.”

The above provision requires that the individual vot es ofeach member oft hegoverning body on "an action" bespecif icallyrecorded except for votes on "payment sof judgment s,claims, and amounts fixed by stat ut e."

Having satisf iedminimum requirements, the question of howelaborat eand extensive t heminut esshould be is largely apolicy matt erfor determinat ionby the particular body in the exercise ofreasonable judgmentand discretion. TheAt t orneyGeneral has explained:

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t heremay be circumstances in which itw ouldbe advisable for the tow n board to provide for theminut esto include informat ionover and above w hatis necessary to satisf yminimum statut oryrequirements for a record of its off icialact ions.

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Op. Atty. Gen. 851C, March 5, 1992. Forexample, the board's reasons for reaching a particular decision could be crucial in defending a challenge thereto. Theinclusion of suchinf ormat ionmay be deemed appropriate under other circumstances, suchas w heret hebody determines that the public interest warrant st heaw ardof apart icular cont ractt oa bidder other than the lowest bidder.

Ot herexamples might be zoning decisions, such as the granting ofvariances or special use permits.In any case, the amountof detail which is appropriate for inclusion in the minut esof apart icularbody is likely to vary, depending upon the nature oft he proceedings and the subjectmatt erinvolv ed.

While the minutes ofa governing bodyshould att emptt of urnishrelevant information over and above bare minimum requirements, they should not, at the same time, be clut t eredw it hunnecessary detail which hampers eff ort st oreview orot herw iseut ilize t hemat alat erdat e.Perhaps the bestst andardt obe applied to the preparation of minut esis the one applied by the courts to the publication ofof f icialproceedings, i.e., t heminut esshould be "suff icient lyf ullt of airlyset fort ht heproceedings." Kett erer v. Indep. Sch. Dist. No. 1, 79 N.W.2d 428, 438 (Minn. 1956); See Op. At t y. Gen. 161a20, Dec. 17, 1970.

HOME CHARTER CITIES AND STATUTORY CITIES

Our state Constitut ionprovides for the creation of home rule charter cities. Minn. Const .art. XII, §4. Minn.Stat. ch. 410 prescribest hemethod to create a home rule chart ercit yand the limitations on home rule charter provisions. Ahome rule charter cit ymay, through its charter, create manyof its own rules and limitat ionsas well as related procedural rules.

Stat ut orycit iesare cities in which the rights and obligations of the city are prescribed by state statutes. Sincet hiscompliance manual was prepared wit hregard to stat e stat ut orycompliance, when auditing a home rulecharter city, a reviewof the home rule charter will also be necessary in order to verif ylegal compliance wit ht herules unique tot hatcit y.

DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS

Minn. Stat .§ 15.17,subd. 1, requires all off icersand agencies oft hestate, counties, cit ies,t ow ns,school districts, municipal subdivisions or corporations, and other public aut horit iesor political entit iesw it hint hest atet omake and preserve all records necessary for "a full and accurate knowledge oft heirof f icialact ivit ies."The chief administ rat iveof f iceris responsible for the preservation and care of the agency’s government records, which include all "w rit t enor printed books,papers, lett ers, cont ract s,document s,maps, plans, computerbased data, and other records made or received pursuant to lawor in connection wit ht het ransactionof public business." Minn. Stat. §15.17, subd. 2.This dut y notonly prohibits destruct ion,but requires the

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cust odiant ot akesuch steps as are necessary to protect public records from det eriorat ion,mut ilat ion,loss, or destruction. Thisstatut ealso requires that all records must bedelivered to the legal custodian' ssuccessor upon expiration of the term of off iceor authorit y.Minn. Stat .§ 15.17,subd. 3.Addit ionalprov isionsregarding data pract icesare found in the Minnesota GovernmentDat aPractices Act, Minn. Stat . ch. 13.

For political subdivisions having problems wit ht hestorage ofobsolet erecords, Minn. St at .§§ 138.163.2 5provide relief. Any person who intentionally and unlawf ully remov es,mut ilat es,dest roy s,conceals, alters, defaces or obliterates a public record is guilty of a misdemeanor.Minn. Stat .§ 138.225.

Political subdivisions may wish to adoptt heappropriat eGeneral Records Retention Schedule promulgated by the Information Policy Analysis Division of the Minnesota Depart mentof Administ ration.Unless a municipality adopts a records retent ion schedule (and notif iest heMinnesot aHistorical Society), it may not destroy public records wit houtt hepermission oft herecords disposition panel.Applicat ionsmay be made to the Stat eArchives Department for such permission.For instance, bids wit h supporting documents received by a city must be kept forever, unless the city (1) adopt st heGeneral Records Retent ionSchedule for Cities, in which case,t hecit ymust maintain these records for ten years, (2) adopts its own properly approved records retent ionschedule, or (3) receives authorit yt odispose oft herecords from the records disposition panel.Quest ionsabout the record retent ionschedules or the Minnesot a Government Data Practices Actshould be directed to:

Minnesot aDepart mentof Administration Information Policy Analysis Division 201 Administration Building 50 SherburneA venue St .Paul, Minnesota 55155 (651) 2966733 (800) 6573721

For information and assistance in disposing ofor transf erringgovernment records, contact:

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Minnesot aHist oricalSociet y State Archives Department Library and Archives Division 345 KelloggBoulevard West St. Paul, Minnesota551021906 (651) 2974502

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TAX LEVY LIMITS

Auditors using this manual may also find ithelpf ulto refer to the" TaxLevy Aut horizat ionsand Limitations" bookletprepared by the Minnesota Department of Revenue. Thisbooklet may providean expedientmethod of ascertaining the limit at ionson tax levies for counties, tow ns,cit ies,school district s,and special district s.A lt houghthe booklet was last updated in 2000, fut ureupdat esare expect ed.Inquire wit h:

Minnesot aDepart mentof Revenue Property Tax Division Harold Stassen Building 600 North RobertSt reet St. Paul, Minnesota551463340 (651) 2965145

In fut ureyears, theMinnesota Legal Compliance Audit Guide for Local Government w illbe updated and additional compliance sections may be added.W einvit eyour comments and suggestions with regard to future editions. Pleasef orw ardt hesame t o:

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Off iceof the State Auditor 525 Park Street, Suite 400 St .Paul, Minnesota 55103 (651) 2962551 (65 1)296475 5(Fax)

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