OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
SB-1099
AN ACT AUTHORIZING BONDS OF THE STATE FOR A
RESEARCH FACULTY RECRUITMENT AND HIRING PROGRAM
BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT TO ENCOURAGE THE
CREATION OF NEW BUSINESS VENTURES.
Primary Analyst: EMG 5/10/21
Contributing Analyst(s): JS
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 22 $ FY 23 $
Treasurer, Debt Serv. GF - Potential
Cost
See Below See Below
UConn Various -
Potential Cost
See Below See Below
Note: GF=General Fund; Various=Various
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill authorizes a total of $46.1 million of General Obligation
(GO) bonds from FY 22 through FY 26. The authorizations are effective
as follows: $6,460,000 in FY 22, $11,729,200 in FY 23, $14,489,200 in FY
24, $9,220,000 in FY 25, and $4,201,600 in FY 26. To the extent bonds are
fully allocated and expended, total debt service is expected to be
approximately $65 million over the 20-year duration of the bonds.
The bill requires the University of Connecticut (UConn) to begin a
research faculty recruitment and hiring program and as part of the
program, facilitate the creation of new business ventures. The total
program costs, to be paid using the bonds authorized in the bill and by
UConn operating or research funds, are expected to vary annually
between FY 22 and FY 27. The faculty hiring program and associated
efforts are anticipated to cost UConn approximately $250,800 in FY 23, 2021SB-01099-R000670-FN.DOCX Page 2 of 2
growing to $3.8 million in FY 27 and annually thereafter. These costs
to UConn will only occur if the bond funds are made available.
The bonds authorized by the bill are anticipated by UConn to be
used to pay for some of the costs associated with the faculty
recruitment component, and all of the costs associated with the
creation of new business ventures.
Provided the bond funds authorized by the bill are allocated in the
year of authorization, UConn expects to hire two faculty in FY 22, four
in FY 23, and four in FY 24, for a total of ten faculty. Each faculty
member's annual personnel cost (salary and fringe) is estimated to be
$380,000, with bond funds paying for all the costs in FY 22 and for a
gradually declining percentage of total faculty costs, until there is no
bonding support in FY 27. It is anticipated that the costs of the
program will be distributed as described in the table below.
Program Costs FY 22 FY 23 FY 24 FY 25 FY 26 FY 27
Faculty
Bond funds 760,000 2,029,200 2,789,200 1,520,000 501,600 0
UConn funds 0 250,800 1,010,800 2,280,000 3,298,400 3,800,000
Subtotal 760,000 2,280,000 3,800,000 3,800,000 3,800,000 3,800,000
Other: Bond
funds 5,700,000 9,700,000 11,700,000 7,700,000 3,700,000 0
TOTAL 6,460,000 11,980,000 15,500,000 11,500,000 7,500,000 3,800,000
The Out Years
The ongoing annual fiscal impact of the debt service would continue
into the future subject to the terms of any bonds issued.
The cost to UConn of maintaining support for the research faculty is
anticipated to be approximately $3.8 million annually, subject to wage
increases and inflation in fringe benefits costs.