Senator Paul Utke issued a statement reacting to Wednesday’s ruling from the Minnesota Supreme Court on the case between State Auditor Rebecca Otto and three Minnesota counties over the constitutionality of a provision within the 2015 State Government Finance bill allowing counties to contract with private CPA firms to conduct their county required audits.

“As a result of the MN Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday, Minnesota counties, including Becker, can rest easier knowing that we have a definitive answer to the State Auditor’s challenge of their auditing procedure,” said Sen. Paul Utke. “This ruling is great news for Becker County and counties across our district since it gives them the freedom to proceed under the 2015 law which granted them the flexibility to conduct their audits in an efficient manner that saves taxpayers money but still adheres to stringent auditing requirements.”

In their unanimous ruling, the MN Supreme Court concluded that the Legislature’s 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 law was initially passed, it did so with the broad support of both Republican and Democrat members.

“It is unfortunate that our State Auditor Rebecca Otto chose to pursue this route despite knowing that the 2015 legislation had received broad bipartisan support,” continued Sen. Utke. “Her pursuit of this matter wasn’t cheap and came at a significant cost to the taxpayers of Minnesota, including nearly $70,000 alone for Becker County’s legal defenses. I hope that with this matter now settled the Auditor and counties can put the issue aside and focus on serving the residents of our state.”

While pursuing her frivolous lawsuit, State Auditor Rebecca Otto wasted more than a quarter-million dollars 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.