Senator Mary Kiffmeyer (R-Big Lake) presented legislation allowing Wright, Becker, and Ramsey counties to receive reimbursement for legal costs incurred when former State Auditor Rebecca Otto sued over the constitutionality of a provision within the 2015 State Government Finance bill that allowed counties to contract with private CPA firms to conduct their county required audits.

“While the MN Supreme Court’s favorable ruling signaled an end to the former Auditor’s frivolous lawsuit and put to rest any question about the bipartisan law it didn’t make up for the inconvenience and financial burden that it caused to counties defending against her case,” said Senator Mary Kiffmeyer. “Wright, Becker, and Ramsey counties all incurred significant financial fees for doing the right thing and defending the state and the other 84 counties who would be impacted by the lawsuit. It is not fair to them, or the residents in their counties, that they should shoulder the financial burden when we can make them whole and allow them to turn the page with the new State Auditor.”

 Last year, the MN Supreme Court unanimously concluded that the State Auditor’s challenge to a 2015 law did not violate the separation of powers clause in the Minnesota Constitution, nor a clause requiring that bills at the Legislature deal with a single subject. When the bill was originally passed, it did so with the broad support of both Republican and Democrat members.

While pursuing her lawsuit, former State Auditor Rebecca Otto wasted more than a quarter-million dollar in taxpayer funding, money that would have been better spent on pension auditing and other state priorities. Her action also forced officials from Becker, Ramsey, and Wright counties to expend over $135,000 in local resources to build their legal defense.