Minnesota State Auditor

The state auditor of Minnesota is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Nineteen individuals have held the office of state auditor since statehood. The incumbent is Julie Blaha, a DFLer.

State Auditor of Minnesota
Incumbent
Julie Blaha
since January 7, 2019
Style
Member ofExecutive Council, among others
SeatMinnesota State Capitol
Saint Paul, Minnesota
AppointerGeneral election
Term lengthFour years, no term limits
Constituting instrumentMinnesota Constitution of 1858, Article V
Inaugural holderWilliam F. Dunbar
FormationMay 11, 1858 (May 11, 1858)
SalaryUS$108,485[1]
WebsiteOfficial page

Election and term of office

The state auditor is elected by the people on Election Day in November, and takes office on the first Monday of the next January. There is no limit to the number of terms a state auditor may hold. To be elected state auditor, a person must be qualified voter, permanently resident in the state of Minnesota at least 30 days prior to the election, and at least 21 years of age.[2]

In the event of a vacancy in the office of the state auditor, the governor may appoint a successor to serve the balance of the term.[3] The state auditor may also be recalled by the voters or removed from office through an impeachment trial.[4]

Powers and duties

In Minnesota, the state auditor is charged with supervising and auditing the finances of the state's approximately 3,600 local governments, which altogether tax and spend over $40 billion annually.[5][lower-alpha 1] Likewise, the state auditor performs under contract the annual single audit of federal programs administered by state agencies and their subrecipients (i.e., nonprofits and localities), which accounted for another $24 billion of public spending in fiscal year 2022.[6][7] The state auditor's authority transcends jurisdictions and applies to all local governments, be they counties, cities, towns, school districts, local pension funds, metropolitan and regional agencies, or myriad special purpose districts, and to every state agency that receives federal financial assistance.[8] Public expenditures overseen by the state auditor thus exceed what state agencies are authorized to spend annually.[9][10][11]

In keeping with this position of trust, the state auditor renders opinions on governments' financial statements, examines compliance over financial management with internal controls, conducts best practices reviews of locally-delivered public services, reviews documents, data, and reports filed with the Office of the State Auditor, and investigates complaints of waste, fraud, or abuse of public funds and resources.[lower-alpha 2] In addition, the state auditor prescribes uniform systems of accounting and budgeting applicable to all local governments and trains local government officials and employees on matters of public administration and good financial management.[12] The state auditor also collects financial data from local governments, monitors their fiscal health, and issues statutory reports which inform the budgetary and fiscal policies of the governor and Legislature.[13]

Aside from his or her functional responsibilities, the state auditor is by virtue of office a member of the following public bodies:

  • Board of Trustees of the Public Employees Retirement Association: Administers Minnesota's public pension system for local government employees.[14]
  • Executive Council: Advises the management and budget commissioner on the issuance of state debt, selects depository institutions for the safekeeping of state funds, coordinates emergency management statewide, approves timber harvests, rents and sells state lands, and acts as the leasing agent for the state with regard to dams, harbors, and mineral deposits.[15][16]
  • Housing Finance Agency Board: Finances housing for low- and moderate-income households and offers programs for buying, refinancing, or making improvements to one's home.[17]
  • Land Exchange Board: Approves the exchange of state lands with federal, local, or privately-owned lands.[18]
  • Records Disposition Panel: Regulates the retention and destruction of public records across state and local government.[19]
  • Rural Finance Authority Board: Partners with local lenders to issue agricultural loans to Minnesota farmers.[20]
  • State Board of Investment: Directs and administers the state investment portfolio, including Minnesota's general fund, college and ABLE savings plans, the Permanent School Fund, and the state's three public pension systems.[21]

History

The state auditor's office has its origins in the Minnesota Territory, when the territorial governor appointed an auditor to ensure that both territorial and county finances were in good order and handled properly. This function continued with an elected state auditor upon Minnesota's entry into the Union on May 11, 1858, and lasted until a 1973 reorganization of state government. During the intervening years, the state auditor acted as the comptroller for the whole of state government. In that capacity, the state auditor prescribed and maintained the statewide accounting system, preaudited claims by and against the state, issued warrants on the state treasury in payment of claims approved, monitored county finances, and managed the state's land records. Following reorganization, the responsibilities of the state auditor's office were transferred to a state agency known today as the Department of Management and Budget. The Office of the State Auditor then shifted to its present role, which was previously handled by the public examiner, a Cabinet official appointed by the governor that audited local governments and state agencies alike. Following elimination of the Department of the Public Examiner, the elected state auditor took on the duty of supervising and auditing local government finances. At the same time, audits and evaluations of state agency financial management and performance were reassigned to a newly created office of legislative auditor, which is appointed by and reports to the Legislative Audit Commission.[22][23] Aside from the statewide single audit, which was transferred from the legislative auditor to the state auditor beginning in 2021, this division of auditing responsibility has remained constant since 1973.[24]

Politics of Minnesota
Constitution
Executive
Legislature
Judiciary
Elections
Subdivisions
Congressional delegation

Territorial auditors
NameTook officeLeft officeParty
Jonathan E. McKusick18491852Whig
Abraham Van Vorhes18521853Whig
Socrates Nelson18531854Democratic
Julius Georgii18541858Democratic

State auditors

The state auditor's term of office was originally three years. In 1883, voters approved a constitutional amendment changing it to four years.

No.NameTerm of officeParty
1William F. Dunbar1858–1861Democratic
2Charles McIlrath1861–1873Republican
3Orlan P. Whitcomb1873–1882Republican
4William W. Braden1882–1891Republican
5Adolph Biermann1891–1895Democratic
6Robert C. Dunn1895–1903Republican
7Samuel G. Iverson1903–1915Republican
8J. A. O. Preus1915–1921Republican
9Ray P. Chase1921–1931Republican
10Stafford King1931–1969Republican
11William J. O'Brien1969–1971Republican
12Rolland F. Hatfield1971–1975Republican
13Robert W. Mattson Jr.1975–1979Democratic-Farmer-Labor
14Arne Carlson1979–1991Independent-Republican
15Mark Dayton1991–1995Democratic-Farmer-Labor
16Judi Dutcher1995–2000Republican
Judi Dutcher 2000-2003 Democratic-Farmer-Labor
17Patricia Anderson (formerly Awada)2003–2007Republican
18Rebecca Otto2007–2019Democratic-Farmer-Labor
19 Julie Blaha 2019–present Democratic-Farmer-Labor

Notes on Minnesota political party names

Attempts at higher office

The position of state auditor has become a stepping stone in Minnesota for individuals that hold aspirations of higher office, more so in fact than any other constitutional office. In the past 50 years, two incumbent auditors - Arne Carlson and Mark Dayton - have won competitive gubernatorial races. Conversely, no incumbent or former secretary of state has ever won an election for governor or U.S. senator in that timeframe; the same goes for any incumbent or former attorney general. Likewise, Rudy Perpich and Tina Smith are the only lieutenant governors since 1972 to ever be elected a governor or a U.S. senator.

Footnotes
  1. By comparison, the state of Minnesota collected only $29.7 billion in tax revenue in FY 2021, with the remainder of the state budget substantially consisting of federal financial assistance and debt financing. Most government taxation and expenditure in Minnesota therefore occurs at the local level. See "State Tax Collections by Type of Tax, Table 1". Minnesota Department of Revenue. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  2. All audits are performed in accordance with Government Auditing Standards promulgated by the Comptroller General of the United States.

References
  1. State Elected Officials' Compensation (PDF) (Report). Minnesota House Research Department. 2021. p. 1. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  2. "Article VII, Sections 1, 2, and 6 of the Minnesota Constitution". Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  3. "Article V, Section 3 of the Minnesota Constitution". Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  4. "Article VIII, Sections 1, 2, and 6". Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  5. "Office of the State Auditor 2024-25 Biennial Budget Request" (PDF). Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
  6. "Section 16A.06, Subdivision 12, Minn. Stats". Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  7. "2022 Financial and Compliance Report on Federally Assisted Programs" (PDF). Minnesota Office of the State Auditor. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  8. "State Auditor, 2022 Minnesota Statutes Index". Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  9. "State Fiscal Brief: Minnesota". Urban Institute. July 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  10. Michelle Griffith (January 25, 2023). "Takeaways from Gov. Tim Walz's 2024-25 budget proposal". Minnesota Reformer. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  11. "Current Operating Budget - FY 2024-25 Biennium". Minnesota Management and Budget. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  12. "Budget Summary for the Office of the State Auditor". Minnesota Management and Budget. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  13. ""What We Do"". Minnesota Office of the State Auditor. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  14. "Board of Trustees". Public Employees Retirement Association of Minnesota. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  15. "About the Executive Council". Minnesota Department of Administration. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  16. "Executive Council, 2022 Minnesota Statutes Index". Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  17. "About the Board". Minnesota Housing Finance Agency. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  18. "Land Exchange Board". Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  19. "Records Disposition Panel". Minnesota Historical Society. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  20. "Rural Finance Authority Board". Minnesota Department of Agriculture. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  21. "About Us". Minnesota State Board of Investment. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  22. ""OSA History"". Minnesota Office of the State Auditor. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  23. ""History of the OLA"". Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  24. "State of Minnesota Financial and Compliance Report on Federally Assisted Programs for the Year Ended June 30, 2021" (PDF). Minnesota Management and Budget. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
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