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3 golden objects Minnesota Legislature

Office of the Legislative Auditor - Financial Audit Division

Report Summary


Special Review

Emergency Medical Services Regulatory Board

Administration of Grants to Regional EMS Organizations


Key Findings and Recommendations:

  • Although the Emergency Medical Services Regulatory Board (state EMS board) complied with applicable legal provisions, it needs to improve its process for awarding grants to regional emergency medical services (EMS) organizations. The state EMS board did not clarify in its request for proposal the timeframe by when regional EMS grant applicants needed to comply with certain eligibility requirements. In addition, the state EMS board did not adequately identify the evaluation criteria used to award regional EMS grants. We recommended that in future requests for proposals that the state EMS board specify when grant eligibility requirements need to be satisfied. In addition, the board should review and approve the evaluation criteria used in selecting grant recipients.
  • We agreed with the EMS board's concerns regarding certain business practices of a regional grant organization and think that the state board should clearly specify in contracts with regional EMS organizations its expectations regarding the use of public funds. For example, one regional EMS organization used funds received from the state board to pay penalties and interest on delinquent payroll taxes, allowed its property insurance to cancel, and did not require its executive director to fully account for all personal mileage associated with the use of the corporate vehicle. We recommended that the state EMS board incorporate these expectations and restrictions in future contracts with regional EMS organizations.
  • The state EMS board and two regional EMS organizations did not formalize a fiscal agent arrangement between the two regional organizations. As a result, the compensation for the fiscal agent was unclear. We recommended that in the future the state EMS board ensure all affected parties negotiate a formal agreement to avoid misunderstandings under similar circumstances.
Office of the Legislative Auditor, Room 140, 658 Cedar St., St. Paul, MN 55155 : legislative.auditor@state.mn.us or 651‑296‑4708