Posted on: Friday, October 1, 2004
City to offer more Hanauma Bay fund figures
By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer
HAWAI'I KAI — The city has agreed to hand over more financial details to the Friends of Hanauma Bay at a private meeting next week, the president of the group told council members yesterday.
It will be the second such meeting, said John Norris, Friends of Hanauma Bay president. And while the city did hand over some financial information, it wasn't what the volunteer group had asked for, Norris told members of the City Council Budget Committee yesterday.
"The city provided us with a wealth of information about the expenses, but it wasn't what we asked for," Norris said yesterday. "We want to see the 2003 fiscal year ledger. The city's budget and finance director assures us that no money has been misspent."
Chris Diebling, city Department of Budget and Fiscal Services deputy director, said: "We had some misunderstanding of what the Friends were asking for. The information will be available for the meeting next week."
Specifically, the Friends of Hanauma Bay wants to see how much the city received in fees from concessions, parking and admissions and how much it spent in 2003, the year the city says there was a $1.4 million surplus in the Hanauma Bay Special Fund. At the same time, requests for positions and equipment were turned down at the nature preserve.
Two weeks ago, the city administration gave the group and the City Council details on the finances of the Hanauma Bay Special Fund that they had been seeking for months. It was disclosed that the dedicated fund has a surplus of $1.4 million. The friends group presented the city with a list of immediate needs that it wants addressed such as filling vacant custodian and ranger positions, and a list of long-range needs such as replacement of displays, computer equipment and projectors, Norris said.
Given that surplus, the Friends group maintains there is no reason why positions should go unfilled or equipment that is needed shouldn't be purchased, Norris said.
"We made it very clear to the city's budget and finance director that we believe anything funded at the bay needs to come from the special fund and it is unacceptable to finance them out of the parks budget," Norris said.
The council wants to correct any Hanauma budget shortages by tapping into the special fund surplus, said Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi.
The accounting of the Hanauma Bay Special Fund has become an issue since the city sought to tap into the fund in May for a one-time withdrawal of $1.1 million to help balance its budget. That proposal was voted down by the full council.
Hanauma Bay is the state's premier snorkeling beach, ranking among the best in the country, with more than 3,000 visitors a day.
The group says it will have to wait until after the November election of a new mayor before it can push for establishment of a financial plan for the bay that includes improvements and maintenance, Norris said.
"Our top priority will be the use of the special fund to fund the needs of the bay," Norris said. "There's ample money there; it's just a question of the building in the processes there. We don't believe the bay should have to go through the same budget process as other city departments."
Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.
