No internal audits since 2011: County auditor trying to catch up

A changing of the guard in the Legislative Auditor’s Office has left Hawaii County without a single internal audit being completed since 2011.

But Auditor Bonnie Nims said she expects an audit report to be forthcoming within the next few months. Nims, who took over the post May 1, said she’s working on an audit of county procurement credit cards, known as P-cards.

Nims said work is progressing as fast as it can.

“You always hope for more,” she added.

Nims’ annual audit plan, submitted to the County Council on Sept. 17, also lists planned audits of real property tax delinquent accounts, and cash receipts from Parks and Recreation and the Mass Transit Agency among the priorities. In addition, she is following up on Elections Division issues as directed by a council resolution, and conducting a countywide risk assessment, according to the audit plan.

Nims said she is also looking at information technology issues as new computers and software are added.

The $99,000 annual position had been vacant for 16 months before Nims took over. She’s the second auditor hired by the council after a 2008 charter amendment giving the auditor more freedom from political interference.

Finance Director Deanna Sako said Nims agreed to hold off on the audit of delinquent property tax accounts until the department could finish its transition to a new accounting system.

Council members contacted by West Hawaii Today were largely satisfied with the auditor’s progress. All said they had met with Nims once since she took office. Nims will be coming before them again at the end of April for budget reviews.

Council Chairman Dru Kanuha, of Kona, said he met with Nims about a month ago, and, as far as he can tell, she’s doing a good job. The council will learn more when she makes her budget presentation, he said.

Hilo C ouncilman Dennis “Fresh” Onishi said he discussed programs, such as the Parks and Recreation Summer Fun program, as areas that he thinks need looking into during his recent meeting with Nims. He said he generally has a positive impression.

“She’s an easy to talk to person. She understands what the needs are and what I was trying to tell her,” Onishi said. “I can judge her much better once I see a report on how she did it.”

The charter amendment required the County Council to appoint an auditor who has free rein to inspect county records and require employees to be available for questioning as the auditor prepares performance and financial audits of administrative and legislative departments.

The auditor serves for six years unless removed for cause by a two-thirds vote of the council. The mayor has no say in the appointment or removal of the auditor.

The county’s financial records are audited annually by an outside firm working with the county Department of Finance.

The last internal audit done by the legislative auditor was a July 2011 report that found the county had put off maintenance of Parks and Recreation Department facilities so long that repairs at many facilities were more costly than they need to be. The 118-page report said there was a deferred maintenance backlog of approximately $80 million, yet $1.3 million appropriated by the County Council was scheduled to lapse unused.

The County Council last year voted 8-0 to hire Sims to replace Colleen Schrandt, who left the county to take a position with the United Nations in New York City.

Prior to her work auditing documents for the U.S. Department of Defense, Nims served a two-year stint in the American Samoa Government Territorial Audit Office. Before that, she worked for 16 years for the state of Washington, ending as an audit supervisor overseeing 15 employees.

Sims is a certified government auditing professional.

“We’ve gotten a really good response, better than expected, from the departments,” Nims said Monday. “I can’t complain at all. The council’s been really supportive; the mayor’s been really supportive, and I think that’s all I can ask for. Nobody’s been stonewalling.”