UC officials said Monday they are correcting the tax forms of more than a dozen executives after a key state audit found their compensation was reported improperly.

UC President Robert Dynes and 19 other senior managers will get adjusted W-2 forms. The problems surfaced during an independent audit looking into UC executive compensation following a series of newspaper reports that executives were paid millions in bonuses and other perks while student fees escalated.

The audit found that in some instances, taxable gross income was overstated, meaning employees overpaid taxes. In other cases, leased automobiles, temporary housing or life insurance was not reported.

Dynes said the corrected tax forms reflected administrative errors by the university — not wrongdoing by the managers. The audit covered a 10-year period.

On Tuesday, the Bureau of State Audits released its audit that indicated UC compensation practices were error-laden and include such mistakes as overpaying one employee by $130,000 and "improperly" boosting retirement benefits for others.

In a university response released along with the audit, Dynes vowed to reform the pay system. "We accept the findings in your report. They are consistent with many of the observations recently reported by the UC task force and our own assessment," he said.

Also, the state Office of Legislative Counsel said Tuesday that the regents may have broken state open meeting laws when they met behind closed doors on compensation proposals involving the president, chancellors and certain other top executives.

However, UC General Counsel James Holst disgreed with the state counsel's interpretation and said the UC has done nothing wrong.

The state audit report, including more UC compensation information, is available at www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/compensation.

— Clifton B. Parker