Just in case there wasn’t already a lack of faith in the state tax system, there’s now a new reason to view the whole modernization enterprise with skepticism.

It’s a report from the consultant firm AdvanTech LLC, which was hired to help jump-start the faltering progress of a system modernization program at the state Department of Taxation.

The result of that effort, so far, has been appalling, with indications that interference from department officials hindered the independence of its reports.

The meddling surely diminishes the value of a $1.43 million consulting contract, of which $291,500 already has been paid out to AdvanTech. This dismal news comes on top of a litany of woes, more wasted money on earlier failed initiatives, a misdirected course the consultants were hired to help correct.

However this latest disaster shouldn’t be allowed to derail the whole effort, a centerpiece of Gov. David Ige’s agenda.

That political consideration aside, keeping this $60 million modernization on track should be a mandate, in the public interest. It is essential to bringing Hawaii into the 21st century and making tax collection more efficient and effective.

Specifically, AdvanTech’s latest report contends that officials instructed the consultant to address certain subjects but not others. That may explain why its earlier reports gave a more sunny assessment of how modernization was going.

Not so this time, according to the report, acquired by Honolulu Star-Advertiser writer Kevin Dayton.

“At present, the program is not operating in an optimal way,” according to the October report.

“There continue to be a number of issues and risks related to program execution that, if not addressed and remediated immediately, may have a significant negative impact on the program’s ability” to function properly in a year. That’s when the new computer system is due to take over the handling of personal income tax data.

Without fully untangling what’s been described as “problems with personalities,” it‘s plain that there are forces working at cross-purposes here.

On the one hand there’s the Hawaii Government Employees Association. Its executive director, Randy Perreira, wrote to Ige on Oct. 31 to complain that the union was not consulted adequately on the changes in management of the project. HGEA filed the formal grievance in August.

Perreira wrote that the administration had wrongly wrested control of the project from Director of Taxation Maria Zielinski and Tax System Modernization Program Manager Robert Su.

The governor in July appointed state Chief Information Officer (CIO) Todd Nacapuy as the project’s “executive sponsor” and put him and Damien Elefante, Tax Department deputy director, in charge of it.

The reorganization makes sense, given that the modernization is essentially an information technology challenge and Nacapuy is the state’s CIO. Perreira points to a “complete lack of confidence” in the new leadership.

AdvanTech, however, comes to their defense. Its latest report stated that the new team of Nacapuy and Elefante told the consultants to “be more direct (and even blunt) in describing our findings,” assuring AdvanTech that they would not direct the company on the report contents or request changes.

That seems like the correct stance for state officials to take toward AdvanTech, described as an “independent verification and validation” consultant — regardless of the union’s critique.

Ige undoubtedly feels pressure to ride herd on this project — and he should. The consultants should have resisted meddling into their reports and spoken up sooner.

But now that they have, it’s the governor’s job to hold his ground and see the project through. Having a system that handles the public’s tax dollars competently may not be the sexiest policy issue, but it matters — big-time.