However, City Auditor Leslie Tanaka said nearly all program documents and reports, including program costs, are missing, preventing an accurate accounting of the total cost.

Former city spokeswoman Carol Costa said that she reached former Mayor Jeremy Harris to ask about the critical audit and "he doesn't wish to comment."

The audit issued yesterday is the first comprehensive accounting of expenditures for the events despite repeated attempts by the City Council to learn how much they were costing.

The outdoor food and movie festivals were launched in July 2001 to help revitalize Waikiki's economy. They proved popular with the public but within months raised questions among City Council members, who urged that the administration look for ways to reduce the cost to the city.

City Councilman Gary Okino said he was troubled by the audit but not surprised.

"There was a commitment of a lot of city resources," Okino said yesterday. "It was clear to me that the cost was way more than what they were telling us."

Okino said the worst part of the program was that it steered city staff and money away from such core city services as fixing potholes, cleaning parks and routine police patrols. "It was diverting city funds and resources from other things that have higher priorities," he said.

When he saw the $4.5 million cost, he said, "that could have fixed a lot of roads."

From July 2001 to December 2004, the Brunch and Sunset programs — as well as a community version of the Sunset festivals called Rediscover O'ahu — cost the city $4,527,205 Tanaka said.

The Brunch events turn a section of Kalakaua Avenue into an outdoor cafe complete with umbrellas, tables, chairs and restaurants selling food. The Sunset events feature a movie shown on a big beachside screen at Queen's Surf beach. Rediscover took the movie format on the road to Wai'anae, Kailua, 'Aiea, Pearl Harbor, Hale'iwa and other communities.

All the events proved popular with residents and visitors, attracting hundreds of thousands over the years.

When the programs began, former managing director Ben Lee first estimated the cost at about $300,000. That tripled by April 2002. Lee did not respond to a request for comment yesterday.

Tanaka also faulted the Harris administration for inadequate tracking and accounting of what was spent. "Neither the managing director's office nor the Department of Budget and Fiscal Services established a system or procedure to track these expenditures," he said.

The audit showed expenditures ranging from equipment rentals, bus service and the purchase of supplies to labor and overtime for setup, cleanup and payments for meals for volunteers.

"The city was spending way too much money and allocating way too much manpower to these events," Mayor Mufi Hannemann said. "My predecessor went too far in supporting them."

Hannemann said he has ended direct city financing of all but the community festivals, which receive $80,000. The Waikiki Improvement Association under president Rick Egged has taken over management of the events.

Hannemann praised the intent of the festivals — "this is such a good program" — but said they should have shifted to private funding long ago. He said reducing the number of events annually from 35 to 24 Sunsets and cutting Brunches from 11 to four also has helped cut costs while keeping the events.

Hannemann yesterday announced more private help — a new sponsorship with Hawaiian Telcom will support the Sunset program over the next year.

City Council Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi had been asking for an accounting of the festival spending since she began serving on the council in 2002.

"They never provided us with true costs," she said.

Kobayashi said the real cost probably was even higher because Harris' directors, deputy directors and other political appointees routinely worked long hours to staff the events.