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RELEVANT LINKS: <br />League of Minnesota Cities Handbook for Minnesota Cities 9/10/2024 <br />Municipal Budgeting Chapter 20 | Page 15 <br /> 4. General state aid <br /> Cities in Minnesota receive a variety of shared revenues from the state. <br />Amounts for each city are typically available from the Minnesota <br />Department of Revenue on or before Aug. 1 of each year. Each of these <br />programs has a separate policy goal, and, taken in combination, the <br />programs and their impact on city finances can be confusing. The following <br />sections describe these programs and their interaction with the city budget- <br />setting process. <br /> a. Fire and police state aid—filing forms required <br />Minn. Stat. § 477B. <br />Minn. Stat. § 477C. <br />Minn. Stat. § 424A.08. <br />Minn. Stat. § 471.699. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Handbook, Financial <br />Reports, Accounting and <br />Auditing. <br /> <br />The state determines which cities and independent nonprofit firefighting <br />corporations qualify for fire state aid directly—or qualify to receive fire state <br />aid paid to the voluntary statewide lump-sum volunteer firefighter retirement <br />plan. The state also determines which cities are qualified to receive police <br />state aid. The state must pay the police and fire aid by Oct. 1, so the money <br />usually goes out just before that deadline. However, cities must file the <br />appropriate forms by March 15 each year to receive this money. In <br />addition, the state auditor can delay the Oct. 1 payment date if a city fails to <br />submit legally required financial reports. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />For forms, instructions and <br />letters about both forms see <br />Minnesota Revenue: <br />Police State Aid (Use Form <br />PA-1). <br />The city clerk in the city served by the volunteer relief association must also <br />countersign the fire relief association’s financial report – or it may be <br />countersigned by the city clerk in the largest city served by the fire relief <br />association. According to the Minnesota Department of Revenue, if the <br />forms are not received by March 1 the Department of Revenue will send a <br />final reminder stating that the forms have not been received and that the fire <br />or police department could forfeit part or all its aid for the year if the forms <br />are not received by March 15. <br />Fire State Aid (Use Form FA- <br />1). <br /> <br />The amount of aid forfeited is equal to the amount of yearly aid multiplied <br />by 10 percent for each week or fraction of a week that the form is late. <br />Please note: the police state aid form must be signed and dated by the city <br />clerk. If the form is not signed and dated, the form will be returned. Please <br />also note that the fire state aid form must be signed and dated by either the <br />municipal clerk (or secretary of an independent nonprofit firefighting <br />corporation) and the fire chief. If the form does not contain both signatures, <br />the form will be returned. <br /> Funding for these programs comes from the state general fund, based on <br />taxes paid to the state by most insurers writing homeowners, fire, and <br />commercial non-liability policies. <br />24