Otter Tail County HRA seeks audit firms for oversight review

Otter Tail County’s Housing and Redevelopment Authority is looking for an outside accounting firm to review its books for the next three audit cycles, a routine oversight step that will examine housing dollars, program compliance and public records through 2028.

The request for proposals covers three annual audits for the 12-month periods ending Dec. 31, 2026, Dec. 31, 2027 and Dec. 31, 2028. The HRA also left open the option to extend the engagement for two additional one-year terms if negotiations succeed. Responses were due Monday, June 8, 2026 at 1 p.m., either by email to Amy Baldwin or by mail to 500 W. Fir Avenue in Fergus Falls.

The audit work is not limited to a simple financial check. The contract calls for compliance with generally accepted auditing standards, the Single Audit Act of 1996, Minnesota legal compliance guidance and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development handbook requirements. It also requires attention to the Real Estate Assessment Center process, including auditor attestation on Financial Data Schedule data and a separate agreed-upon procedures review comparing electronic submissions with hard-copy audit reports.

The review will touch several local housing programs and funding streams, including 140 Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, 13 low-rent public housing units, six affordable senior housing units, Minnesota Housing Finance Agency programs, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development programs and the HRA tax-levy account. For taxpayers and tenants alike, that means the audit will reach beyond ledgers and into how housing assistance and redevelopment dollars are handled.

The HRA has been part of county government since 1973, when Otter Tail County established it to address a shortage of affordable housing and redevelop substandard areas that could affect nearby properties. County materials describe its mission as promoting safe, decent and affordable housing, along with community investment, housing stability and economic self-reliance. Amy Baldwin is listed as executive director and contact for the agency, and the board members named by the county are Wayne D. Johnson, Leland Rogness, Jeff Ackerson, Kurt Mortenson and Megan Myers.

The timing comes as the county continues to push housing work at a larger scale. Otter Tail County said 2024 housing investment topped $94.2 million from 443 new or rehabbed units, and nearly 3,000 homes had been built or significantly rehabbed since the Big Build initiative began in late 2019. Against that backdrop, the audit process gives commissioners, residents and funding partners a formal check on how the HRA manages public money and federal compliance.

Minnesota’s Office of the State Auditor oversees more than $40 billion in annual local-government financial activity and about $20 billion in federal funding activity, a reminder that local housing authorities operate in a tightly watched system. Otter Tail County’s new audit search fits that larger framework, signaling another round of scrutiny for an agency that handles housing aid, redevelopment programs and levy-supported funds across Fergus Falls and the wider county.