Terms Used In Minnesota Statutes > Chapter 308A > ORGANIZATION

• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Chair: includes chairman, chairwoman, and chairperson. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Defined benefit relief association: means a volunteer firefighters relief association that provides a lump-sum service pension, provides a monthly benefit service pension, or provides a lump-sum service pension as an alternative to the monthly benefit service pension. See Minnesota Statutes 424A.001
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Fire department: includes a municipal fire department, an independent nonprofit firefighting corporation, and a fire department established as or operated by a joint powers entity under section 471. See Minnesota Statutes 424A.001
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Majority: means with respect to an individual the period of time after the individual reaches the age of 18. See Minnesota Statutes 645.451
• Month: means a calendar month and "year" means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed; and "year" is equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
• Municipal: means of a city or township. See Minnesota Statutes 424A.001
• Municipality: means a city or township which has established a fire department with which the relief association is directly associated, a city or township which has entered into a contract with the independent nonprofit firefighting corporation of which the relief association is directly associated, or a city or township that has entered into a contract with a joint powers entity established under section 471. See Minnesota Statutes 424A.001
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Special fund: means the special fund of a volunteer firefighters relief association or the account for volunteer firefighters within the special fund of a partially salaried and partially volunteer firefighters relief association. See Minnesota Statutes 424A.001
• state: extends to and includes the District of Columbia and the several territories. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Tax: means any fee, charge, exaction, or assessment imposed by a governmental entity on an individual, person, entity, transaction, good, service, or other thing. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Volunteer firefighter: means a person who is a member of the applicable fire department or the independent nonprofit firefighting corporation and is eligible for membership in the applicable relief association and:

  (i) is engaged in providing emergency response services or delivering fire education or prevention services as a member of a fire department;

  (ii) is trained in or is qualified to provide fire suppression duties or to provide fire prevention duties under subdivision 8; and

  (iii) meets any other minimum firefighter and service standards established by the fire department or specified in the articles of incorporation or bylaws of the relief association. See Minnesota Statutes 424A.001

• volunteer firefighters relief association: means a volunteer firefighters relief association or a volunteer firefighters division or account of a partially salaried and partially volunteer firefighters relief association that is:

  (1) organized and incorporated as a nonprofit corporation to provide retirement benefits to volunteer firefighters under chapter 317A and any laws of the state;

  (2) governed by this chapter and sections 424A. See Minnesota Statutes 424A.001