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Office of the State Auditor City Expenditures and the Public Purpose Doctrine Page 3 powers which have been expressly conferred." Mangold Midwest Co. v. Village of RicJifield, 274 Minn. 347, 357, 143 N.W. 2d 813, 820 (1966). 2. The expenditure must be made for a public purpose. 3. These requirements apply to "funds of govenunentalentities derived not only from taxation but from other sources as well." Op. All'y Gen. 107-A-3 (Jan. 22, 1980). See Minn. Const., art. X, ~ 1 ("Taxes . . . shall be levied and collected for public purposes."); Visina v. Freeman, 89 N.W.2d 635 (1958) (courts generally construe "public purpose" to mean "such an activity as will serve as a benefit to the community as a body and which, at the same time, is directly related to the functions of government"); Tousley v. Leach, 180 Minn. 293, 230 N.W. 788 (1930) (public funds may be used by public entity if the purpose is a public one for which tax money may be used, there is authority to make the expenditure, and the use is genuine); Op. All'y Gen. 59a-22 (Dec. 4, 1934) (regardless of how desirable or commendable the purpose may be, public funds cannot be expended unless there is statutory or charter authority to do so). B. Gifts/Donations to Private Individuals (E.g., Consultants or Nonprofit Organizations) Generally, no donations to people, non-profits, charities, etc., are perruitted unless based upon specific statutory or charter authority. See, e.g., Ops. All'y Gen. 59a-3 (Aug. 19, 1947)(no authority to donate to 4-H Clubs), 442a-17 (Jan. 17, 1938)(Red Cross), 59- A-3 (May 21, 1948) and (Sept. 28, 1933)(Boy Scouts). The ass\lll1ption is that a gift of public funds to an individual or private entity necessarily serves a private rather than a public purpose. See Ops. Att'y Gen. 107-a-3 (Jan. 22, 1980), 270-D (Aug. 12, 1977), and 59a-22 (Dec. 4, 1934). The Attorney Generalhas distinguished between statutory authorization to appropriate and use money for a purpose, and authorization to contribute money to a body generally committed to advancing a purpose. Op. Att'y Gen. 59-A-3 (Jan. 15, 1959) (can't give money to an organization to use as it sees fit, but may contract with the organization to perform on behalf of city activities authorized by statute). The following are specific statutorily authorized appropriations: