THE SENATE |
S.R. NO. |
61 |
TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004 |
||
STATE OF HAWAII |
||
REQUESTING THE department of accounting and general services TO CONDUCT A study ON EMPLOYEE OVERPAYMENT within the university of hawaii system.
WHEREAS, it has come to the attention of the Legislature that Kapiolani Community College (KCC) is continuing to experience the problem of paying full salary to employees who should not be receiving full salary because they owe the State moneys for past salary overpayments; and
WHEREAS, typically, if a KCC employee has exhausted sick and vacation leave and stays home from work in what should be leave without pay, three state agencies need to take steps to ensure that the employee does not receive payment for that time period: KCC must inform the University of Hawaii (UH) payroll administration of this so that UH can make the appropriate payroll changes, and the UH payroll administration must in turn inform the Department of Accounting and General Services to make the proper payroll adjustment; and
WHEREAS, if one or more of these agencies does not perform these duties in a timely manner, the employee receives payment to which the employee is not entitled, which is an overpayment that triggers statutory procedures under section 78-12, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and
WHEREAS, KCC is apparently unable to recoup all of the overpayments and continues to make full salary payments to employees who owe the State for past salary overpayments, and who should be subject to salary adjustments for the overpayments due to the State; and
WHEREAS, the state budget is facing a fiscal shortfall and the Legislature seeks to maintain their fiduciary responsibility to all taxpayers; and
WHEREAS, accounting practices that perpetuate inaccurate financial reporting are detrimental to the fiscal well being of the State, and need to be corrected; and
WHEREAS, the three state agencies involved in this issue are aware of the problem but do not seem to be able to resolve it; and
WHEREAS, the UH financial management office said in April 2003 that they were working on this issue, but with no resolution to date; and
WHEREAS, the problem of collection of alleged indebtedness was addressed in the Session Laws of Hawaii, Regular Session of 1996, 2000, and 2001, but the State is still unable to significantly reduce the balance of overpayments; and
WHEREAS, this problem is not limited to KCC, and that as of December 31, 2003, the total balance owed the State from all state employees for this type of overpayment stood at $2,470,000; and
WHEREAS, this is a systemic problem that saps the strength of state agencies in general; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-Second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, that the Department of Accounting and General Services is requested to study and report on the employee salary overpayments within the University of Hawaii system including all of the four year campuses and community colleges, specifically KCC; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Accounting and General Services is requested to determine where the problem lies with regard to salary overpayment, how best to address a prompt reclamation of overpayments, to make recommendations for improving the system so that overpayments are not made in the first place, and to address the problem if identified in other departments; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that KCC, UH, and other affected departments are requested to provide all necessary assistance to the Department of Accounting and General Services for the purposes of this report; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Accounting and General Services is requested to report its findings to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2005; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chancellor of Kapiolani Community College, President of the University of
Hawaii, and the State Comptroller.
OFFERED BY: |
_____________________________ |
|
Report Title:
Study; University of Hawaii Salary Overpayments