OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
sHB-6887
AN ACT CONCERNING HIGHER EDUCATION MANAGEMENT
AND FISCAL ACCOUNTABILITY.
Primary Analyst: DD 3/19/25
Contributing Analyst(s): LG, WL, NN
Reviewer: JS
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 26 $ FY 27 $
Comptroller GF - Cost None 54,000
State Comptroller - Fringe
Benefits
1
GF - Cost None 22,000
Board of Regents for Higher
Education
2
OF - Cost At least
480,000
At least
961,000
Note: GF=General Fund; OF=Other Fund
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill results in costs of at least $480,000 in FY 26 and at least
$961,000 in FY 27 and annually thereafter to the Board of Regents for
Higher Education (BOR) and one-time costs in FY 27 to the Office of the
State Comptroller (OSC). It does so by requiring (1) BOR to establish an
internal audit office; and (2) OSC to conduct a randomized post-audit
examination of the records and expenditures of BOR.
1
The fringe benefit costs for most state employees are budgeted centrally in accounts
administered by the Comptroller. The estimated active employee fringe benefit cost
associated with most personnel changes is 40.71% of payroll in FY 26.
2
Pursuant to PA 23-204, higher education constituent units are responsible for the costs
of group life insurance, active health insurance, Social Security, and Medicare for all
active employees, totaling an estimated non-pension fringe benefit rate of 35.78% of
payroll in FY 26. A minimal cost is also incurred by the Office of the State Comptroller's
Fringe Benefit account associated with employee participation in a state-offered
retirement plan. 2025HB-06887-R000158-FN.DOCX Page 2 of 2
It is anticipated that Section 3 will require BOR to add at least five
positions in order to staff the internal audit office. This results in total
costs (salary plus fringe) of $480,000 in FY 26 and $961,000 in FY 27 and
annually thereafter. FY 26 costs assume a January 1 start date. To
illustrate, the University of Connecticut currently has nine filled
positions in its audit office. These positions have salaries and estimated
fringe benefits totaling $1.6 million.
3
Additionally, it is anticipated that Section 3 will require OSC to add
one temporary position and total funding of $76,000 in FY 27 ($54,000 in
salary and $22,000 in fringe benefits) to complete the post-audit
examination.
Additionally, the bill requires the constituent units of higher
education to: (1) report certain data to OSC for inclusion in its
transparency database; and (2) establish various administrative policies.
These changes have no fiscal impact as it is anticipated that the
constituent units can meet these responsibilities with existing resources.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to changes in salary and fringe costs
associated with the internal audit office established by the bill.
3
Salary data derived from CORE CT. Positions related to UConn Health are excluded
from the analysis.