MIN CHARTER 2018-09-14 (2018-2020)

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Uawai`i County Charter Commission -3 September 14, 2018 e. Office of the Legislative Auditor --- Legislative Auditor; Bonnie Nims CHR, ADAMS: At this point, let's move on to 1 e, I know that everybody would like to take a recess, but we are going to power through alright? These folks made the trek over here so. Let's move on to Item e, Office of the Legislative Auditor. (Note: At this time, Legislative Auditor Bonnie Nims came forward to address the members of the Commission. Ms. Nims presented a handout to the Commission. See Charter Communication No. 4.5) CHR. ADAMS: Auditor Nims thank you so much for being here and making the trip and we look forward to your presentation. MS. NIMS: Thank you Chair and Commission Members, and thank you for having me out to talk. Nobody ever wants to talk to the Auditor, so this is a pleasant surprise to actually be requested. Section 3-18 of the County Charter establishes and defines the Office of the Legislative Auditor. We are a small staff. We only have four auditors including myself and one administrative assistant. Our Office was established to conduct both performance and financial audits. We also follow up or perform follow up audits on the recommendations that we have made. In addition we also manage and establish the contract with the CPA (Certified Public Accountant) firm to do the financial statement and single audits. As the U.S. Government Accountability Office says or (GAO) "Audits provide -- essential accountability and transparency over government programs. So basically, our audits examine the use of public funds, evaluate the effectiveness economy and efficiency of programs and departments within the County. And then we provide hopefully value added feedback in audit recommendations and findings for management to improve the accountability and public transparency and fiscal integrity for the County. The County Charter basically defines our operations in that it gives us free and open access to all County employees, all County facilities, and all records. It also provides that the office is independent, which is a critical function of the office, otherwise you never know if the results are skewed to somebody's political view. The office is scheduled to be headed by a six-year term appointed proficient and experienced auditor, which I believe is three years. And, finally, the Charter requires us to follow what we call the yellow book, or it's Government Auditing Standards, and that's kind of best standards out there or we think it is, for keeping a high quality, high competent integrity driven audit. Page 27