2025 Minnesota Statutes

424A.08 MUNICIPALITY WITHOUT RELIEF ASSOCIATION; AUTHORIZED DISBURSEMENTS.

(a) A municipality that is entitled to receive fire state aid must deposit the fire state aid in a special account established for that purpose in the municipal treasury and disburse the fire state aid in accordance with paragraph (b) or (c), as applicable, if the municipality's fire department is not directly associated with a firefighters relief association and is not a participating employer in the statewide volunteer firefighter plan under chapter 353G.

(b) If the municipality has no firefighters with retirement coverage by the public employees police and fire retirement plan and no part-time firefighters with retirement coverage by the general employees retirement plan under chapter 353, the municipality must not disburse fire state aid from the special account for any purpose except:

(1) payment of the fees, dues and assessments to the Minnesota State Fire Department Association and to the state Volunteer Firefighters Benefit Association in order to entitle its firefighters to membership in and the benefits of these state associations;

(2) payment of the cost of purchasing and maintaining needed equipment for the fire department; and

(3) payment of the cost of construction, acquisition, repair, or maintenance of buildings or other premises to house the equipment of the fire department.

(c) If the municipality has firefighters with retirement coverage by the public employees police and fire retirement plan or part-time firefighters with retirement coverage by the general employees retirement plan or both full-time and part-time firefighters with the applicable retirement coverage, the municipality may disburse the fire state aid:

(1) as provided in paragraph (b);

(2) for the payment of employer contributions under section 353.65, subdivision 3, for any firefighters covered by the public employees police and fire retirement plan;

(3) for the payment of employer contributions for any firefighters covered by the general employees retirement plan under section 353.27, subdivisions 3 and 3a; or

(4) for a combination of the payments authorized under clauses (1) to (3).

(d) A municipality that has no firefighters relief association directly associated with it and that participates in the statewide volunteer firefighter plan under chapter 353G shall transmit any fire state aid that it receives to the statewide volunteer firefighter fund.

History:

1979 c 201 s 18; 1983 c 219 s 10; 2009 c 169 art 10 s 45; 2010 c 359 art 6 s 9; 2014 c 296 art 12 s 12; 2020 c 108 art 7 s 9; 2022 c 65 art 9 s 16; 2024 c 102 art 2 s 31; 2025 c 37 art 21 s 4