With the end of the state’s fiscal year (FY20) on June 30, 2020, and the beginning of a new fiscal year (FY21) on July 1, 2020, it’s hard for firefighters to keep everything straight sometimes when it comes to deadlines and commitments – especially when fire departments are operating on their city’s or township’s fiscal year, which follows a calendar year. Let me point out a few dates that can help you keep track of things that are happening within the MBFTE and when they will take place.

First of all, your training reimbursement requests for FY20 will need to be submitted to the MBFTE by July 15, 2020. The reimbursements are for training-related expenses incurred between July 1, 2019, and June 30, 2020. As I write this article with less than three weeks before the deadline, more than 350 fire departments have yet to submit anything for FY20. I understand that COVID-19 squashed a lot of training plans this spring, but you also had eight months of training that was taking place before the pandemic shut things down in Minnesota around mid-March.

Secondly, those who are licensed firefighters will need to renew their license online before July 1, 2020. If you haven’t done so by the time you are reading this, then you are in violation of Minnesota State Statute 299N.05. License renewals happen triennially, or are pro-rated if you are a new license applicant within the three-year period. A firefighter license is required by statute if you are a full-time (career) firefighter, and is optional if you are a firefighter that is volunteer, part-time, or paid on-call.

Next, the FY21 Conferences and Seminars Grant applications are due to the MBFTE by July 2, 2020. This particular grant is issued by the board for those training programs that have a regional or multi-agency impact. The grant is up to $5,000 for any one agency per project, and is given in addition to the department’s per-firefighter award. If you’re reading this now and haven’t applied, you likely won’t be able to meet the deadline. If you have applied, successful applicants will be notified as to how much they were awarded following the MBFTE board meeting in August.

Lastly, the MBFTE Board will meet on Aug. 12, 2020, to determine the budget and their funding for FY21. They will be incorporating any remaining FY20 funds, plus any one-time funding that the MBFTE might receive from the Fire Service Advisory Committee’s meeting to be held on Aug. 5, into the overall budget. Fire departments will be notified by letter and email as to what their per-firefighter award will be. You will also see communication from our office coming to you in various forms to notify you of the board’s decisions.

Good luck, stay safe and stay well.