Office of the State Comptroller
At a Glance
NANCY WYMAN, State
Comptroller
Mark E. Ojakian, Deputy
Comptroller
Established - 1786
Statutory authority - State Constitution
Central office - 55 Elm Street,
Average
number of full-time employees - 235
Recurring
operating expenses - $19.2 million
Systems
development expenses - $140,000
Capital
outlay -
$1,000
Organizational structure – Seven Divisions: Accounts Payable, Budget and
Financial Analysis, Information Technology, Management Services, Payroll
Services, Policy Services, Retirement and Benefit Services.
Mission
To provide accounting and financial
services, to administer employee benefits, to develop accounting policy and
exercise accounting oversight, and to prepare financial reports for state,
federal and municipal governments
and
the public.
Statutory
Responsibility
The responsibilities of the Office of the State Comptroller
(OSC) were first laid down in the State Constitution in 1786, and have been
amplified over the years in the Connecticut General Statutes. According to
Article Fourth, Section 24 of the State Constitution, the State Comptroller
"shall adjust and settle all public accounts and demands, except grants
and orders of the general assembly. He shall prescribe the mode of keeping and
rendering all public accounts." In addition, state law charges the office
to adjust and/or settle all demands against the state not first adjusted and
settled by the General Assembly; to prepare all accounting statements relating
to the financial condition of the state; to pay all wages and salaries of state
employees; to develop and implement new computerized payroll, personnel,
accounting and budgeting systems; and to administer miscellaneous
appropriations for employee taxes, health services and insurance, as well as
grants to police, firefighters and municipalities.
The bulk of the Comptroller's statutory requirements are
detailed in CGS Secs. 3-111 through 3-123.
The office is organized by
seven divisions:
The Accounts Payable Division (APD) controls the State’s
central accounts payable process, audits encumbrances and payment claims for
legal conformance and coordinates a range of processing activities. The division
processes statewide accounts payables, special payments such as tax-exempt bond
funds, electronic fund transfers (EFT), and land condemnations. The Division
coordinates all other special processing requests based on state, local, and
federal law and Comptroller's regulations, and processes payments to more than
60,000 vendors that provide goods and services to the State.
APD approves the State’s obligations and reserves funding to
charge an agency’s appropriation. The division approves disbursements for
claims against the State’s obligations and charges such payments to the state
agency’s appropriations; manages the State’s encumbrance and expenditure
records in accordance with procedures developed by the Administrator of Public
Records; enforces the statutory, regulatory and accounting requirements
prescribed by state law, federal law, and the Comptroller; facilitates the
execution of a statutory grant program for payments to municipalities; produces
town payment reports and assists in the reconciliation of the municipal payments
with the town’s independent auditors; maintains financial records, including
vendor garnishments, through the vendor file database in the Central Accounting
System (CAS); provides the statewide 1099 Miscellaneous Income and 1099-S
reporting to the Internal Revenue Service.
The Budget and Financial Analysis Division performs the
state’s accounting, cost accounting and financial reporting functions. The
division posts, analyzes and reports state expenditures and receipts by fund
and account category inclusive of federal and other funding sources. The
division computes and reports direct and indirect costs associated with major
state programs. This cost data is recorded and maintained in accordance with federal
law and is used to secure reimbursements from federal and other funding
sources.
At the Comptroller’s direction, the division prepares a
monthly analysis of the state’s budget condition that contains the financial
statements for the latest month and projects the budget position to year’s end.
The division publishes three of the Comptroller’s annual financial reports: 1)
a budgetary base (modified cash basis of accounting) report that details and
analyzes state expenditures, receipts, and capital budget activities for the
fiscal year; 2) a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) prepared in
accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles that analyzes the
state’s overall fiscal position and provides audited financial statements for state
and state supported fiscal activities; and 3) a Comptroller’s “popular” report
that explains in common language the state’s overall fiscal position in the
context of state economic and demographic trends.
The Information Technology Division (ITD) has primary
responsibility for developing and maintaining the OSC’s technical
infrastructure. Technical services provided include: local area network (LAN)
planning, administration, and support; personal computer (PC) installation and
troubleshooting, training in desktop software applications, help desk support
for all PC users, and development of custom PC/LAN applications. The ITD also
operates OSC’s data center, providing Unisys mainframe processing services and
support, including production control, input/output control, data and system
security, and the laser printing of reports and negotiable documents.
The Director of the Division
assists the Comptroller in strategic IT planning, represents the agency on a
major statewide system initiative involving the state’s core financial computer
systems, and coordinates OSC’s procurement of IT hardware, software and
services.
This division consists of the Business and Support Services
Units.
Business services
prepares, analyzes and monitors the agency’s budget and miscellaneous
appropriations; prepares and monitors budgets for the Office of the Claims
Commissioner and the Judicial review Council; and makes all purchases and
vendor payments for the above-mentioned operating budget. It pays refunds of
disability and death benefits to state firemen and policemen; death benefits to
state employees and grant payments to towns; provides comprehensive support
services including courier, payroll, and inventory control, security and
facility management; and administers the statewide tuition, travel and training
programs.
Support services provides management oversight for state
employees’ travel and manages the state employee tuition reimbursement program.
In addition, it handles the state’s casualty loss record system and provides
management of the parking, space planning, maintenance and other critical
facility needs for the agency.
The Payroll Services Division pays all state employees,
handles all payroll deductions, and maintains records on payroll taxes and
deposits federal and state income tax withholding and social security
contributions. It pre-audits and issues state employee and deduction checks on
a bi-weekly basis; submits deduction reports; maintains wage execution records,
and administers savings bonds and direct deposit programs. The payroll system accommodates unique state
payroll requirements including interfaces with central agencies, mass salary changes,
collective bargaining information, complex accounting transactions and
extensive management reporting.
This division provides overall policy and program direction to
the Office of the State Comptroller and its subsidiary programs. The division develops and promulgates
complex accounting systems and procedures for use by state agencies to maximize
accountability, standardization and cost-effectiveness; monitors agency
compliance with these systems and procedures; reviews reports of the Auditors
of Public Accounts to ensure agency compliance with Auditors’ recommendations;
monitors the activities of the Activity and Welfare Funds; performs
analysis/interpretation and statewide dissemination of changes occurring as a result
of collective bargaining contracts and negotiations. Staff also assists state
agencies in the interpretation and implementation of procedures.
Retirement & Benefit
Services Division
As agent of the State Employees Retirement Commission, the Division administers all state pension plans except the Teachers Retirement System, providing a comprehensive package of services ranging from pre-retirement counseling to post-mortem accounting. The Division provides counseling services to members of the pension plans it administers; manages computer, accounting, investigatory, payroll, training, record-keeping, and compliance activities attendant to the state’s complex retirement programs; analyzes and implements statutory, collectively bargained, and federally mandated revisions to the pension plans within its jurisdiction; and plans and develops new products and services on the basis of research and analysis of retirement conditions and trends.
The Division also administers
state employee benefits, and manages the state deferred compensation plan. More
specifically, it provides direction for plan design, benefit administration and
interpretation and policy for all state insurance benefits including medical,
surgical, hospital, and life insurance.