2006 Minnesota Statutes

123B.77 ACCOUNTING, BUDGETING, AND REPORTING REQUIREMENT.
    Subdivision 1. Uniform financial accounting and reporting standards. Each Minnesota
school district must adopt the uniform financial accounting and reporting standards for Minnesota
school districts provided for in guidelines adopted by the department.
    Subd. 1a. School district consolidated financial statement. The commissioner, in
consultation with the advisory committee on financial management, accounting, and reporting,
shall develop and maintain a school district consolidated financial statement format that converts
uniform financial accounting and reporting standards data under subdivision 1 into a more
understandable format.
    Subd. 2. Audited financial statement. Each district must submit to the commissioner by
September 15 of each year unaudited financial data for the preceding fiscal year. These financial
data must be submitted in the format prescribed by the commissioner.
    Subd. 3. Statement for comparison and correction. (a) By November 30 of the
calendar year of the submission of the unaudited financial data, the district must provide to the
commissioner audited financial data for the preceding fiscal year. The audit must be conducted in
compliance with generally accepted governmental auditing standards, the federal Single Audit
Act, and the Minnesota legal compliance guide issued by the Office of the State Auditor. An
audited financial statement prepared in a form which will allow comparison with and correction
of material differences in the unaudited financial data shall be submitted to the commissioner and
the state auditor by December 31. The audited financial statement must also provide a statement
of assurance pertaining to uniform financial accounting and reporting standards compliance and a
copy of the management letter submitted to the district by the school district's auditor.
(b) By January 15 of the calendar year following the submission of the unaudited financial
data, the commissioner shall convert the audited financial data required by this subdivision
into the consolidated financial statement format required under subdivision 1a and publish the
information on the department's Web site.
    Subd. 4. Budget approval. Prior to July 1 of each year, the board of each district must
approve and adopt its revenue and expenditure budgets for the next school year. The budget
document so adopted must be considered an expenditure-authorizing or appropriations document.
No funds shall be expended by any board or district for any purpose in any school year prior to
the adoption of the budget document which authorizes that expenditure, or prior to an amendment
to the budget document by the board to authorize the expenditure. Expenditures of funds in
violation of this subdivision shall be considered unlawful expenditures. Prior to the appropriation
of revenue for the next school year in the initial budget, the board shall inform the principal or
other responsible administrative authority of each site of the amount of general education and
referendum revenue that the Department of Education estimates will be generated by the pupils in
attendance at each site. For purposes of this subdivision, a district may adjust the department's
estimates for school building openings, school building closings, changes in attendance area
boundaries, or other changes in programs or student demographics not reflected in the department's
calculations. A district must report to the department any adjustments it makes according to this
subdivision in the department's estimates of compensatory revenue generated by the pupils in
attendance at each site, and the department must use the adjusted compensatory revenue estimates
in preparing the report required under section 123B.76, subdivision 3, paragraph (c).
    Subd. 5. Joint powers agreements; service cooperatives, education districts. All
governmental units formed by joint powers agreements entered into by districts pursuant to
sections 123A.22, 125A.03 to 125A.24, 125A.26 to 125A.48, 125A.65, 471.59, or any other law
and all service cooperatives and education districts are subject to the provisions of this section.
    Subd. 6. Benefits. A district providing early retirement incentive payments under section
122A.48, severance pay under section 465.72, or health insurance benefits to retired employees
under section 471.61, must account for the payments according to uniform financial accounting
and reporting standards.
History: 1976 c 271 s 30; 1977 c 447 art 7 s 7; 1980 c 609 art 7 s 5; 1982 c 548 art 4 s 5;
1983 c 314 art 7 s 7; 1984 c 463 art 7 s 3; 1989 c 329 art 6 s 3; 1990 c 562 art 8 s 6; 1993 c 224
art 12 s 13,14; art 14 s 5; 1994 c 647 art 13 s 1; 1Sp1995 c 3 art 16 s 13; 1996 c 305 art 1 s 138;
1998 c 397 art 6 s 18,124; art 11 s 3; 1998 c 398 art 1 s 2,3; 1999 c 241 art 9 s 20; 2000 c 489 art
6 s 9; 2003 c 130 s 12; 2004 c 294 art 1 s 4; 2006 c 263 art 2 s 8,9