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69.771 VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS' RELIEF ASSOCIATION FINANCING
GUIDELINES ACT; APPLICATION.
    Subdivision 1. Covered relief associations. The applicable provisions of sections 69.771 to
69.776 apply to any firefighters' relief association other than a relief association enumerated in
section 69.77, subdivision 1a, which is organized under any laws of this state, which is composed
of volunteer firefighters or is composed partially of volunteer firefighters and partially of salaried
firefighters with retirement coverage provided by the public employees police and fire fund
and which, in either case, operates subject to the service pension minimum requirements for
entitlement and maximums contained in section 424A.02, or subject to a special law modifying
those requirements or maximums.
    Subd. 2. Authorized employer support for a relief association. Notwithstanding any law
to the contrary, a municipality may lawfully contribute public funds, including the transfer of
any applicable fire state aid, or may levy property taxes for the support of a firefighters' relief
association specified in subdivision 1, however organized, which provides retirement coverage or
pays a service pension to retired firefighter or a retirement benefit to a disabled firefighter or a
surviving dependent of either an active or retired firefighter for the operation and maintenance
of the relief association only if the municipality and the relief association both comply with the
applicable provisions of sections 69.771 to 69.776.
    Subd. 3. Remedy for noncompliance; determination. (a) A municipality in which there
exists a firefighters' relief association as specified in subdivision 1 which does not comply with
the applicable provisions of sections 69.771 to 69.776 or the provisions of any applicable special
law relating to the funding or financing of the association does not qualify initially to receive, and
is not entitled subsequently to retain, fire state aid under sections 69.011 to 69.051 until the reason
for the disqualification specified by the state auditor is remedied, whereupon the municipality
or relief association, if otherwise qualified, is entitled to again receive fire state aid for the year
occurring immediately subsequent to the year in which the disqualification is remedied.
(b) The state auditor shall determine if a municipality to which a firefighters' relief
association is directly associated or a firefighters' relief association fails to comply with the
provisions of sections 69.771 to 69.776 or the funding or financing provisions of any applicable
special law based upon the information contained in the annual financial report of the firefighters'
relief association required under section 69.051, the actuarial valuation of the relief association,
if applicable, the relief association officers' financial requirements of the relief association and
minimum municipal obligation determination documentation under section 69.772, subdivisions
3 and 4
; 69.773, subdivisions 4 and 5; or 69.774, subdivision 2, if requested to be filed by the state
auditor, the applicable municipal or nonprofit firefighting corporation budget, if requested to be
filed by the state auditor, and any other relevant documents or reports obtained by the state auditor.
(c) The municipality or nonprofit firefighting corporation and the associated relief association
are not eligible to receive or to retain fire state aid if:
(1) the relief association fails to prepare or to file the financial report or financial statement
under section 69.051;
(2) the relief association treasurer is not bonded in the manner and in the amount required
by section 69.051, subdivision 2;
(3) the relief association officers fail to determine or improperly determine the accrued
liability and the annual accruing liability of the relief association under section 69.772,
subdivisions 2, 2a, and 3
, paragraph (c), clause (2), if applicable;
(4) if applicable, the relief association officers fail to obtain and file a required actuarial
valuation or the officers file an actuarial valuation that does not contain the special fund actuarial
liability calculated under the entry age normal actuarial cost method, the special fund current
assets, the special fund unfunded actuarial accrued liability, the special fund normal cost under
the entry age normal actuarial cost method, the amortization requirement for the special fund
unfunded actuarial accrued liability by the applicable target date, a summary of the applicable
benefit plan, a summary of the membership of the relief association, a summary of the actuarial
assumptions used in preparing the valuation, and a signed statement by the actuary attesting to its
results and certifying to the qualifications of the actuary as an approved actuary under section
356.215, subdivision 1, paragraph (c);
(5) the municipality failed to provide a municipal contribution, or the nonprofit firefighting
corporation failed to provide a corporate contribution, in the amount equal to the minimum
municipal obligation if the relief association is governed under section 69.772, or the amount
necessary, when added to the fire state aid actually received in the plan year in question, to at
least equal in total the calculated annual financial requirements of the special fund of the relief
association if the relief association is governed under section 69.773, and, if the municipal or
corporate contribution is deficient, the municipality failed to include the minimum municipal
obligation certified under section 69.772, subdivision 3, or 69.773, subdivision 5, in its budget
and tax levy or the nonprofit firefighting corporation failed to include the minimum corporate
obligation certified under section 69.774, subdivision 2, in the corporate budget;
(6) the relief association did not receive municipal ratification for the most recent plan
amendment when municipal ratification was required under section 69.772, subdivision 6; 69.773,
subdivision 6
; or 424A.02, subdivision 10;
(7) the relief association invested special fund assets in an investment security that is not
authorized under section 69.775;
(8) the relief association had an administrative expense that is not authorized under section
69.80 or 424A.05, subdivision 3, or the municipality had an expenditure that is not authorized
under section 424A.08;
(9) the relief association officers fail to provide a complete and accurate public pension plan
investment portfolio and performance disclosure under section 356.219;
(10) the relief association fails to obtain the acknowledgment from a broker of the statement
of investment restrictions under section 356A.06, subdivision 8b;
(11) the relief association officers permitted to occur a prohibited transaction under section
356A.06, subdivision 9, or 424A.001, subdivision 7, or failed to undertake correction of a
prohibited transaction that did occur; or
(12) the relief association pays a defined benefit service pension in an amount that is in
excess of the applicable service pension maximum under section 424A.02, subdivision 3.
History: 1971 c 261 s 1; 1977 c 429 s 63; 1979 c 201 s 1; 1980 c 509 s 19; 1982 c 460 s 6;
1983 c 289 s 114 subd 1; 1984 c 655 art 1 s 92; 1990 c 480 art 6 s 4; 1Sp2005 c 8 art 9 s 3

Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes