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Rebecca Otto wins national award for
Excellence in Accountability
“Green” State Auditor report contains “some
of the most innovative thinking” in U.S.
June 16, 2009
WASHINGTON - The National State Auditors
Association (NSAA) has awarded the Best Practices Review: Reducing
Energy Costs in Local Government issued by State Auditor Rebecca Otto in
July of 2008 its prestigious 2009 NSAA Excellence in Accountability
Award for a special project.
“NSAA is privileged to recognize some of the most innovative thinking in
the current state auditing environment,” said Tom McTavish, Michigan’s
Auditor General and Chair of the NSAA Excellence in Accountability
Awards Committee.
read more
Small wind turbines see gust in sales,
thanks in part to tax credits
June 19, 2009 2:27 PM CDT
by Bob
Geiger | Finance and Commerce
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Minnesota Auditor Rebecca Otto, and her husband, Shawn, operate a
12-kilowatt wind turbine at their home in Marine on St. Croix. The
turbine provides 80 percent of power they use |
When it comes to wind power, small is
beautiful.
The same credit crunch that’s depressed real estate has also made banks
skittish about lending huge sums for utility scale wind farms, but the
downturn is having no effect whatsoever on small wind-turbine
manufacturers.
read more
Austin leery of using reserves
City officials disagree with governor on using reserve
funds to replace portions of LGA
By Mike Rose | Austin Daily
Herald
Published Friday, June 12, 2009
They’re often called rainy day funds. Other
times they’re called reserves. No matter the title, Gov. Tim Pawlenty is
calling on cities to dip into them given almost certain Local Government
Aid cuts — an idea that’s not being well received in Austin.
read more
Brooklyn Center is Exhibit A in aid cuts
debate
Brooklyn Center illustrates the complex
debate over state aid -- and how much a city can cut before it hurts.
By MIKE KASZUBA, Star
Tribune
June 10, 2009
Gov. Tim Pawlenty has not singled
out Brooklyn Center when he wonders aloud whether cities are doing
enough to cut spending.
But in some ways, the first-ring Minneapolis suburb could serve as a
prime exhibit of what the Republican governor said is a major problem as
he considers another round of cuts in aid to cities to help balance the
state budget through his controversial use of the "unallotment" process.
read more
State auditor offers hints to overcome
economic woes
Carolyn Lange, West
Central Tribune
Published Wednesday, March 18, 2009
WILLMAR — Calling her job the “Rodney
Dangerfield of constitutional offices,” state Auditor Rebecca Otto said
she doesn’t “make the rules” but makes sure that the rules are followed
when taxpayer money is being spent.
read more
Otto is National Women’s History Month
2009 Honoree
FOREST LAKE TIMES
March 4, 2009
March is National Women’s History
Month, and this year Minnesota State Auditor Rebecca Otto of May
Township will be a 2009 honoree of the National Women’s History Project.
She is being recognized for her work as a “Woman Taking the Lead to Save
Our Planet,” the theme of the 2009
National Women’s
History Month.
read more
Cities lean heavily on property taxes to keep functioning
As state and federal assistance dries
up, Minnesota's 855 cities are relying more on property taxes for their
revenue, a new report finds. And that spells trouble.
By BOB VON STERNBERG, Star
Tribune
January 15, 2009
It will come as no surprise to Minnesota
homeowners that their cities have increasingly relied on property taxes
to operate in recent years.
But a new report from the state auditor's office quantifies just how
dramatically that reliance has grown -- and has sobering implications at
a time when the state faces a massive budget shortfall and home prices
statewide are cratering.
read more
MN State Auditor Rebecca Otto releases
landmark Best Practices Review on Reducing Energy Costs in Local
Governments
Helps local governments address
climate change and save taxpayer dollars
July 20, 2008
State Auditor Rebecca Otto today
released a landmark Best Practices Review on Reducing Energy Costs in
Local Governments.
The thousands of local governments
in Minnesota constitute a very large energy footprint. Reducing energy
costs at the local government level can have a major impact on the
environment and on Minnesota taxpayers' pocketbooks.
read more
State-aid cuts squeeze townships
by Charley Shaw, Staff Writer,
FINANCE AND COMMERCE
April 29, 2008
Local governments resort to raising property taxes
Minnesota’s townships have been
feeling a financial pinch in the last five years, according to a new
report from the State Auditor’s office.
The report, released last week, reported five- and 10-year trends in
which state financial support for towns has declined and local property
taxes have been increased.
read more
Auditor faults Elysian in city hall
purchase
State investigation uncovers sloppy
accounting, employee compensation
Sunday, April 20, 2008
By Dan Linehan, Mankato Free Press
ELYSIAN — Shortly after
Councilwoman Tiffani Atherton took office in early 2006, she asked her
colleagues on the Elysian City Council to request a state audit.
Rumors about city cover-ups swirled in the Le Sueur County town of about
540...
read more
KSTP
5: Discounted speeding tickets?

Sunday, March 30, 2008
It seems too good to be true – a
cheaper speeding ticket actually benefiting both the community and
traffic offenders. Over 60 cities across the state have begun handing
out ‘discounted’ speeding tickets.
see video
KSTP
5:
Rebecca Otto lives completely 'green'
Monday, February 25, 2008
In her day job, she watches how
Minnesota cities spend your tax dollars.
But State Auditor Rebecca Otto has a personal passion for living green.
see video
A green power(ed) couple
Saturday, February 9, 2008, Star
Tribune
State Auditor Rebecca Otto and her
husband, screenwriter Shawn Otto, were billed as "perhaps Minnesota's
highest-profile environmental couple"
read more
Goverment lobbying costs fall
Friday, January 18, 2008
Scott Wente, Minn. State Capitol Bureau
ST. PAUL The Minnesota
Capitol complex is rife with lobbyists during legislative sessions,
there to advocate for businesses and interest groups
read more
Office of the State Auditor Makes a Big
Change
New Web site unveiled to improve
access to local government finances
January 17, 2008
State Auditor Rebecca Otto today
unveiled
a new web site.
The main goals of this new and improved web site are to be user-friendly
for all audiences, to allow visitors to be just two clicks away from the
information they are seeking, and to be secure.
read more (pdf)
State Auditor to Conduct Best Practices
Review: "Reducing Energy Costs in Local Government"
January 17, 2008
State Auditor Rebecca Otto today
announced that the Office of the State Auditor is conducting a Best
Practices Review on reducing energy costs
read more (pdf)
State Auditor
Rebecca Otto and husband harness wind power with turbine
Thursday, 25 October 2007
by T.W. Budig, ECM capitol reporter
A whirling intermediary translates the sky
over State Auditor Rebecca Otto’s home. Otto and her husband
screenwriter Shawn Lawrence Otto
read more
State Auditor
Rebecca Otto's home featured on WCCO TV's
'Project Energy'
September 1, 2007
(WCCO) Paying attention to how we
use energy is more important than ever these days. One of the state's
top officials isn't just talking the talk.
read more or watch the segment online
Rebecca Otto: Get the politics out of
budget forecasting
Minnesotans no
longer get a straightforward
assessment of the state's financial baseline.
June 05, 2007
Rebecca Otto
As Minnesota's state auditor, I feel it's
my responsibility to weigh in on the debate about whether or not to
include inflation in the state budget forecast, which the governor cited
as the cause of his veto of the tax bill.
read more
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