Office of the Legislative Auditor - Financial Audit Division

Audit Conclusions

• We issued an unqualified opinion on the financial statements of the Public Employees Retirement Association of Minnesota as of and for the year ended June 30, 2005.
• We issued our Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting and on Compliance and Other Matters Based on an Audit of Financial Statements Performed in Accordance with Government Auditing Standards. We did not report any material weaknesses involving the internal control over financial reporting and its operation or noncompliance that would be required to be reported under Government Auditing Standards.

Background Information

The Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) administers four separate funds: the Public Employees Retirement Fund (PERF), the Public Employees Police and Fire Fund (PEPFF), the Public Employees Correctional Fund (PECF), and the Public Employees Defined Contribution Plan (PEDCP). The PERF covers employees of counties, cities, and townships and employees of schools in non-certified positions. The PEPFF covers police officers and fire fighters. The PECF covers employees in county correctional institutions who have direct contact with inmates. The PEDCP covers elected local government officials (except elected county sheriffs), emergency medical service personnel employed by or providing service to any of the participating ambulance services, and physicians employed at public facilities.

PERA served approximately 2,000 units of government and had 365,526 members in its four funds as of June 30, 2005. Its net assets totaled $15.3 billion at June 30, 2005. For the year ended June 30, 2005, PERA received contributions of about $564 million and paid benefits and refunds of about $995 million.