LIHU‘E — The county Finance Department, which employs 88 workers in 10 divisions, asked for a smaller budget in fiscal year 2013 despite complaints about staffing shortages by one division. The department asked the County Council for $12.24 million for
LIHU‘E — The county Finance Department, which employs 88 workers in 10 divisions, asked for a smaller budget in fiscal year 2013 despite complaints about staffing shortages by one division.
The department asked the County Council for $12.24 million for its operational budget for FY 2013, which begins July 1. The amount (about 7.6 percent of the county’s entire operational budget) is $643,029 less than the department’s current FY 2012 $12.88 million budget.
Testimony to the council ranged from complaints of a staffing shortage by the department’s Accounting Division to a report of $4.74 in overdue real property tax payments from county residents.
Renee Yadao, head of the Accounting Division, said the Government Finance Officers Association awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting to the county for its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2010. It is the 18th consecutive year the county received such an award, she said.
“We believe our 2011 CAFR will continue to meet such requirements,” she said.
Yadao told the council her division is lacking enough personnel, saying that filling two positions has become a “continuous issue” with the county’s Personnel Department.
“Their mission statement states: To provide quality service to the public, our employees and to all county departments … to enhance the achievement of their goals,” Yadao said of the Personnel Department. “My question is, how can I achieve my goals if I can’t obtain my list?”
The Accounting Division now has eight staff members. County Finance Director Wally Rezentes Jr. said two additional staff members will join the division soon, one in the next few days and another in about two weeks.
But Yadao said 10 employees is not enough. She said she needs “at least two more bodies.”
Councilman Mel Rapozo said he hears many requests for positions that he thinks are unnecessary, but Yadao’s request seems legitimate. It affects him, he said, that Yadao has to come before the council to “beg” for positions.
$4.74M delinquency
Deputy Finance Director Sally Motta said that as of March 31, property owners still owed the county $4.74 million in real property taxes.
Of the total, $2.56 million is from the current fiscal year, and $2.18 million is from the previous fiscal year and earlier, she said.
The outstanding balance for 2007-2008 was $1.7 million, for 2008-2009 was $2.3 million, for 2009-2010 was $2.1 million and for 2010-2011 was $1.7 million, Motta said.
“Per year, it’s worse,” she said. “Plus the accumulation of previous ones has still not been paid.”
Motta said there is a “fine line” regarding the administration’s position in seeking to foreclose a property because a homeowner has been defaulting on property taxes. It usually takes about three years of defaulting for the county to pursue a foreclosure, she said.
On May 17, the county is scheduled to offer six foreclosed properties at its yearly foreclosure sale, Motta said.
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• Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or lazambuja@ thegardenisland.com.
