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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0717.042 2004-2006 CONSTANCE R. KIRIU ~~r os~ WILLIAM E. SMITH G'outtty Clerk " ~'I~ Deputy County Clerk County of Hawai `i Office of the County Clerk 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Telephone: (808J 96/-8255 Facsimile: (808J 96/-8912 April 17, 2006 TO: Stacy K. Higa, Chairman And Members of the County Council FROM: Constance R. Kiri~j~~ County Clerk ll`` RE: Bill 235, Comm. No. 717 Operating Budget for FY2006-2007 Office of the County Clerk-Council This is in response to questions posed at the Committee on Finance special budget and program review meeting of March 31, 2006, relating to the budget for the Office of the County Clerk-Council. VOTER REGISTRATION SATELLITE STATIONS In answer to Mr. Safarik's questions about the decrease in voter registration satellite stations, the difference in numbers is because we have begun reporting only County-supported sites. In the past, we counted both County-supported sites as well as the agency-based sites, which are State-supported sites. There was no decrease in the number of voter registration satellite stations. In fact, the number of State-supported sites has actually increased. For your information in addition to our 23 sites, the state has 23 agency-based sites. 1. Kona WIC Program 2. Bay Clinic WIC Program 3. Hilo WIC Program 4. DHS, Social Services Division ACCS/East Hawaii 5. DHS, Social Services Division ACCS/West Hawaii 6. DHS-CWS/West Hawaii 7. DHS, BESSD/NIB/EHS/North Hilo 1,2,&3 Units 8. DHS, BESSD/NIB/EHS/South Hilo 1,2,&3 Units 9. DHS,BESS/NIB/Central Hilo Unit 1 Comm. No. Ref. To°K ~ Ref. Dat Hawaii County (s An Egua[ Opportunity Provider And Employer April 17, 2006 Page 2 10. DHS, SSD/Child Welfare Services 75 Aupuni St. Rm. 112 120 Pauahi St., Ste. 210 11. DHS, BESSD/NIB/Kau Sub-Unit 635 12. DHS, BESSD/NIB/South Kona Unit 633 13. DHS, BESSD/NIB/WHS/ North Kona 1 Unit 14. DHS, BESSD/NIB/WHS/North Kona 2 Unit 15. DHS, BESSD/NIB/WHS/Kohala sub-Unit 634 16. DHS, BESSD/NIB/WHS/Kamuela-Hamakua Unit 632 17. DHS, Employment Works-Hilo 18. DHS, HCDCH 19. DHS, SD/Child Welfare Services 20. DHS, Div. Of Vocational Rehabilitation and Services for the Blind Div. (Capt. Cook) 21. DHS, SSD/Adult & Community Care Services Branch/West Hawaii Section 22. DHS, West Hawaii Child Welfare Services Branch 23. DHS, Div. Of Vocational Rehabilitation and Services for the Blind Div. (Hilo) The voter registration affidavit forms are also located at all post offices and libraries. AVAILABILITY OF VOTER REGISTRATION FORMS IN PAHOA Mr. Safarik also asked where in Pahoa are WikiWiki Voter Registration forms available. We have three sites in Puna: 1) Keaau Police Station, 2) Ainaloa Longhouse, and 3) Paradise Hui Hanalike. VARIANCE IN SALARIES AND WAGES Mr. Safarik also noted a difference of $672,304 between salaries and wages category of FY2004-2005 (actual) and FY2005-2006 (budgeted). The amount of $672,304 is attributed to the following: CATEGORY AMOUNT INCREASE FY05 ACTUAL AND FY06 BUDGET Increase in net budgeted salaries attributed to new positions $336,180 Increase in budgeted salaries of appointed employees/council members 136,121 Increase in budged salaries of civil service employees/Other Payroll expenses 50,800 Difference in FY2004-2005 actual & FY2004-2005 budget due to unfilled positions and unexpended Other Payroll expenses 112,107 TOTAL 672 304 LEGAL SPECIALIST The role of the legal specialist was questioned by Mr. Safarik. The legal specialist was created almost two years ago with the idea that this person would (1) screen and answer fundamental April 17, 2006 Page 3 legal questions, (2) review certain documents for legal issues, and (3) provide second opinions to the Council, if necessary. The legal specialist has proven worthwhile in answering questions dealing with non-compos mentis, developing Title VI training overview for our civil service employees, helping to update the lobbyist forms, instructions and implementation procedures, and reviewing audit contract language, to name a few tasks. NEED FOR NEW ACCOUNTANT POSITION As you know, the Office of the County Clerk-Council has one administrative services assistant handling ALL personnel AND accounts matters for 76 employees (includes Elections Division). This position has had to take on the following additional responsibilities: • Daily entries of all 67 employees' timesheets (excludes council members) • Managing district allowance expenses • Managing contingency relief accounts through project accounting codes There has been a significant increase in staff travel charges and miscellaneous purchases for council district staff. One must also keep up to date with current procurement procedures and policies, and collective bargaining agreements. In terms of personnel issues, the requirements for assuring that workplace policies are properly distributed to all staff members and monitoring required attendance at certain trainings are important from a risk management perspective. Additionally, processing the volumes of paperwork for personnel changes, temporary assignments, and HR memorandums can be quite overwhelming. While we have been fortunate to have one person performing these activities, it has become apparent that this office requires an accountant to perform the accounting tasks and to establish a better management of systems information. The chart below shows a comparison of accounts and personnel positions in various departments. Given the number of employees coupled with the increased workload and the immense personnel changes that occur every other year following elections, it is obvious that the legislative body needs one additional person to handle only the financial tasks. The administrative services assistant would then be reallocated to focus on personnel issues. When I spoke to former Personnel/Senior Accounts Clerk Barbara Ward, she felt that the amount of responsibilities for that position was becoming overwhelming when she left. At that time, she did not have to input daily timesheet entries or DAE/Contingency Allowance expenses. She also did not have additional eight additional personnel to process. Given the above, I would like to request a new accountant I (SR18) position with a designated salary of $33,648. April 17, 2006 Page 4 Admin Number of Personnel Personnel Sr/Account Serv Department/Division Employees Clerk Assistant Clerk Accntnt Asst Total Council 76 1 1 Office of Mgmt 36 0 Office of the Corp Counsel 48 1 1 2 Department of Finance 96 1 6 5 12 Dept of Civil Service 49 1 2 3 Dept of Planning 45 1 1 2 Dept of R&D 16 1 1 1 3 Dept of Data Systems 18 0 Ofc of Hsg & Comm Dev 49 2 3 5 Mass Transit 6 0 Police Department 698 1 6 2 10 Fire Department 464 2 2 4 Dept of Liquor Control 18 1 1 Civil Defense Agency 6 0 Ofc of the Pras Attorney 106 1 1 2 Dept of Public Works 365 1 11 5 18 Ofc of Aging 9 0 Dept of Parks & Rec 538 1 9 2 13 Dept of Envmntal Mgmt 168 6 3 10 CONCLUSION In conclusion, the responsibilities of one administrative services assistant should be split and transferred to a new accountant position. From a management standpoint, this will make for more effective accounting practices, payroll payments, and human resource policy implementation. Should you have any additional questions about departmental goals, objectives and needs, please feel free to contact me.