Review of Special Funds, Revolving Funds, Trust Funds, and Trust Accounts of the Offices of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor

From Hawaii State Auditor, Report No. 16-09, November, 2016

Two trust funds no longer serve their original purposes

OUR REVIEW OF EIGHT TRUST FUNDS of the Office of the Governor found two trust funds no longer serve their original purposes and should be closed. The Office of the Lieutenant Governor did not have any nongeneral funds during our period of review.

Section 23-12, Hawai‘i Revised Statutes, requires the Auditor to review all existing special, revolving, and trust funds every five years. Reviews are scheduled so that each department’s funds are reviewed once every five years. Although not mandated by statute, we included trust accounts as part of our review. This is our fifth review of the revolving funds, trust funds and trust accounts of the Office of the Governor. It is our first review of the special funds of the Office of the Governor.

We used criteria developed by the Legislature and by our office based on public finance and accounting literature. For each fund, we present a five year financial summary, the purpose of the fund, and conclusions about its use. We did not audit the financial data which is provided for informational purposes. We do not present conclusions about the effectiveness of the program or their management, or whether the program should be continued.

Reporting shortfall

WE ALSO NOTED that the Office of the Governor did not file statutorily required reports for non-general funds and for administratively created funds. Accurate and complete reporting, as well as timely closing of funds, will greatly improve the Legislature’s oversight and control of these funds and provide increased budgetary flexibility.

Agency response

WE TRANSMITTED A DRAFT of this review to the Office of the Governor. The Office of the Governor generally agreed with our review and will take appropriate action to ensure compliance with reporting requirements.

For the complete report visit our website at: http://files.hawaii.gov/auditor/Reports/2016/16-09.pdf