Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JOSEPH CRYAN
District 20 (Union)
Assemblywoman CELESTE M. RILEY
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
Assemblywoman NANCY J. PINKIN
District 18 (Middlesex)
Assemblyman JOSEPH A. LAGANA
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Mosquera, Assemblymen Coughlin, Garcia, Wilson and Assemblywoman Spencer
SYNOPSIS
Requires State Auditor to conduct audit of fees charged by public institutions of higher education.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning audits of public institutions of higher education and supplementing chapter 24 of Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The State Auditor shall, as part of his responsibility under R.S.52:24-4, annually conduct an audit of a fee charged by a public institution of higher education, and shall annually issue a report on such fees to the Governor and the Legislature. In conducting the audit, the State Auditor shall select one fee collected by a State college, a public research university, and a county college, and perform an audit of a fee collected by each institution in the prior academic year. Each annual report shall include, but need not be limited to, the following information:
a. The purpose of the fee, as stated by the public institution;
b. The amount collected by the public institution, on a per pupil basis and an aggregate amount; and
c. The amount expended on the stated purpose, the amount of any balance remaining at the end of the academic year, and how any remaining balance has been allocated to either reduce the amount of the fee in the subsequent academic year, or has been transferred to be used for another purpose.
The State Auditor shall not audit the same fee at the same public institution of higher education in two consecutive academic years, unless the purpose of the subsequent audit is to determine if a public institution of higher education has addressed any concerns raised or recommendations made in the initial audit.
2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first be applicable to the first full academic year following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the State Auditor to annually audit a fee charged by a State college, a public research university, and a county college, and to submit a report to the Governor and Legislature. The report would include information on: 1) the purpose of the fee; 2) the per pupil and aggregate amount collected; and 3) the amount that has been expended on the stated purpose, the balance remaining at the end of the academic year, and the amount that has been used to decrease the fee in the subsequent academic year or has been used for another purpose.