An audit of the Facilities Management Office at the University of Hawaii at Manoa concluded that the office "lacks sufficient internal controls" over an estimated $1 million worth of maintenance supplies stored in UH-Manoa warehouses.
The university released the April 2012 audit this week. The Star-Advertiser had requested it last year.
The university’s internal auditor found it could not verify the value of the electrical, plumbing, air conditioning and other supplies stored in the Facilities Management Central Warehouse and that "lack of control over inventory maintained at the Workshops and Landscaping department raises significant questions regarding the disposition of the inventory."
Kathy Cutshaw, UH-Manoa vice chancellor for administration finance and operations, responded that "there is no evidence of theft" from the warehouses. "The inventory count is accurate. They (auditors) couldn’t value the inventory correctly," she said.
Cutshaw said UH-Manoa is upgrading its inventory controls in the warehouses to use the university’s new Kuali financial software system.
Previously, the purchase and distribution of maintenance supplies was "decentralized," and systems to keep track and correctly value inventory are being tightened, Cutshaw said.
"We changed our procedures. We put more checks and balances in our operations," she said.
She noted that the university keeps parts that are no longer manufactured because some buildings still have old air-conditioning and other systems that have to be maintained. So it’s hard to determine the value of some of the older items in the inventory, she said.
The central warehouse stores a variety of maintenance supplies ranging from light bulbs to trash bags to toilet flush valves. The landscaping inventory includes PVC pipes and chemicals such as herbicides.
The April 2012 report was presented to the Board of Regents Audit Committee in a public meeting May 25.
The audit also criticized the budgeting process in the facilities office and the lack of regular evaluations for employees.
David Hafner, former assistant vice chancellor for facilities and grounds, left the university in July after nine years with UH, including five as head of the Facilities Management Office.
Cutshaw said Hafner’s departure was not connected to last year’s audit or other audits critical of the maintenance of the UH-Manoa campus. She said it had more to do with "new leadership" at UH-Manoa.
Hafner could not be reached for comment Friday.
He had been praised in previous years for his efforts to address the backlog of repair and maintenance projects at UH-Manoa, winning an award in 2008 from former UH President David McClain for his leadership that "has notably increased the responsiveness of the UH-Manoa campus service units" and for his "prominent role in Manoa’s efforts to become a more sustainable, environmentally responsible campus."
Cutshaw said audits also revealed that the Facilities Management Office is understaffed and underfunded.
"It’s more than just processes and procedures," Cutshaw said. "We’re still short personnel. We’re still short on operating costs."
She said there are slightly more than 300 employees responsible for the maintenance of the campus but that the office is budgeted for 358 employees.
Cutshaw said the university needs to spend $30 million to $40 million a year to maintain the aging UH-Manoa campus and is budgeted for about $30 million to $33 million for ongoing maintenance.
There is a backlog of repair and maintenance projects that requires spending an additional $60 million a year for the next six years to catch up, she said.
Because of the personnel and money shortages, Cutshaw said crews can respond to health and safety maintenance problems right away, but other repair requests "are slower."
The Star-Advertiser requested a copy of the audit in September, but UH spokeswoman Lynne Waters said at the time the audit was still a "draft" and not finalized.
In an email Friday, Waters said the report was only recently finalized even though it did not change from the presentation to the regents in May. She said the audit "still had to be proofread, cross-checked for verifying documentation, and go through other finishing touches" before it could be released to the public.
April 2012 audit of the University of Hawaii Manoa Facilties Office by
