HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0918.002 2022-2024 ereni2�r- County of Hawaii �QYY_oF,�$
• Office of the County Auditor �!g gNti.
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County Auditor 120 Pauahi St., 309 ,
County of Hawaii Hilo, HI 96720 ' •;, s _4 it
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Office of the County Auditor F 808.961.8905 \ " ' ;
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Ph 808.961.8386 �•4,
www.hawaiicounty.gov 'A °P"� o-
June 20, 2024
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Honorable Heather L. Kimball, Council Chair
and Members of the Hawaii County Council
Hawaii County Council
25 Aupuni Street �J }
Hilo, Hawaii 96720 c __
RE: Slide deck for Grant-In-Aid Review Results for Fiscal Year 2022-23
Aloha Chair Kimball and Council Members:
It is our pleasure to transmit for your review, deliberation, and acceptance of the slide
deck for Grant-In-Aid Review Results for FY 2022-23.
With Aloha,
j114 NI-6-m94
Tyler J. Benner.
County Auditor
Comm. N .
Ref. To:
Ref. Date 2 2 0 2024
Hawai`i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer
Grant - In - Aid
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Review
ResultsA .
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FY2o22 - 23
Office of the County Auditor
Tyler Benner, County Auditor
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Introduction
Today we will cover. . .
• Program Background
• Review Purpose
• Methodology
i
Scope
Awardee Feedback
Testing Results
SIllikObservations
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Program Background
Grant-In-Aid (GIA) Program provides grants to Non-Profit
Organizations
Established to support community projects
Funded by the County to address various needs
Focused areas include but are not limited to sustainability, economic
development, and community welfare
ij. Review Purpose
1 Assessed compliance with Hawaii County Code
Offerred suggestions to improve performance
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IIMethodology
• Reviewed awardee support documentation
Reviewed applicable governance
Analyzed the program
Scope
All applicant for the award year were reviewed
61 organizations, 133 programs
l00% population testing, $3,43o,72o.00
4
Awardee Feedback
We had discussions with several non-profit organizations
They offered valuable feedback to improve the process.
Take-aways included:
Onboard and Compliance r An Award Management - (Continous Feedback About
Training System or Portal Their Performance
How are we
doing?
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TestingResults
Community Outreach Participation Receipts
• Documentation related to • Documentation related to • While most revenue and expenditure
community outreach were participation were generally details were the intentgenerally ofthe and
aligned with the the projects,
generally appropriate appropriate, however... we found the following exceptions:
15 exceptions • Lack of supporting documentation
• No exceptions noted • gx No tracking • Missing or unclear receipts resulted
in an inability to verify all
• 3x Incomplete attendance expenditures
records • Actual expenditures did not always
Not all programs require align to budget expenditures
outreach when the public • 3x Populations counted
purpose or benefit is apparent redundantly • Salary and Wages
• Professional Fees
Operations
Supplies
Equipment
Admin Overhead
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Testing Results
Other Questionable Practices.
Questionable Public Purpose: 14 instances lacking clear public benefit.
Prohibited Expenditures: Funding for travel and conferences.
Prohibited Perquisites: Small gifts or stipends potentially qualifying as
perks.
Grant Impact: Indistinguishable impact from ongoing operations.
Sub-Recipient Issues: Unaddressed pass-through to sub-recipients.
Equipment Purchases: Long-term value equipment for short-term
programs.
Organizational Proficiency: Lack of proficiency in specific grant
applications.
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Testing Results
Other Questionable Practices.
Position Clarity: Ambiguity in distinguishing new vs. existing employees.
Receipt Verification: Missing data for shipping location verification.
Foreign Exchange Rates: Lack of rate data for grant conversions.
Bonus Allocations: Bonuses included in grant wages.
Funding Source Codes: Missing programmatic accounting codes.
Receipt Documentation: System-generated reports used instead of
itemized receipts.
Expenditure Tracking: Poor tracking of program expenditures.
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Observations
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• Opportunities to Establish a More Substantial Public Purpose Alignment.
• We suggest the Hawai'i County Council amend Hawai'i County Code Article 25 to establish alignment with
the state constitution regarding serving a public purpose and benefit by enumerating both as a criteria
• Section 2-139(C)of the Hawai'i County Charter states, "The director shall submit to the council all qualifying
applications as provided in sections 2-137 and 2-138 for its review and appropriation of funds."This leads to a
natural conclusion that forwarded "qualifying applications"conform with all seven elements of the Hawai'i
County Code §2-137 and the other six elements of§2-138. However,this is not the case.The Department of
4.1
Finance does not verify all elements of these two sections.
• Opportunities to Clarify Roles and Responsibilities.
• We suggest the Hawai'i County Council clarify Chapter 2,Article 25 to explicitly include activities and
timelines for reviewing and appropriating non-profit funding.This should include clear guidelines on the
evaluation criteria,decision-making rocesses and oversight mechanisms.
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Observations
• Opportunity to Clarify Council Responsibilities.
We suggest the Hawai'i County Council clarify Chapter 2,Article 25 to explicitly include activities and
timelines for reviewing and appropriating non-profit funding.This should include clear guidelines on the
evaluation criteria,decision-making processes, and oversight mechanisms.
Update Department of Finance Rules and Regulations.
We suggest the Hawaii County Council clarify Chapter 2,Article 25 to explicitly include activities and
timelines for reviewing and appropriating non-profit funding.This should include clear guidelines on the
evaluation criteria, decision-making processes, and oversight mechanisms.
Evaluate the Appropriateness of the Existing Procedure.
We suggest the Hawaii County Council clarify Article 25 by assessing the diverse methods of financial
distribution and, when appropriate, separate Articles.
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Mahalo
County of Hawai'i
Office of the County Auditor
120 Pa u a h i St., 309
Hilo, HI 96720
Ph 808.961.8386