CFO outlines plan to transition finance work from contractors to an in‑house team; trustees urge faster hires and overlap with consultants

Chief Financial Officer Ramona Hink presented the proposed biennium budget for fiscal years 2026–27 and described a planned transition from independent consultants to an in‑house finance and accounting department.

Hink said the proposed biennial budget totals $5,355,931, with personnel representing the largest share at about $4.5 million. “Personnel is the highest,” she said, and explained that personnel costs rise because five independent consultants are expected to be transitioned into in-house positions.

Hink listed three primary spending priorities: hiring and building internal staff, enhancing internal systems and processes, and professional development and training. She said go‑live for a travel expense application is scheduled for May 27 and that fiscal 2026 will include rollout of p‑card processing, invoice workflows and a project module for budgeting.

Trustees pressed on staffing, recruitment timing and compensation. Trustee Keenan asked whether the budgeted amounts are sufficient to attract qualified staff; Hink replied they are not competitive under current pay scales and described past recruitment difficulties. Kapohana Stacy Pereira said the administration is surveying market compensation and revising job descriptions; she said the CFO job description and compensation review should be completed within about two weeks so recruitment can proceed.

Trustees emphasized the need for overlap between independent consultants and incoming staff to preserve institutional knowledge. Procurement staff and trustees urged that at least one consultant remain available after the transition for continuity. “If they don't work for me, they have no jobs. So they're gonna go and look for other placements,” Hink said, noting the risk that consultants will depart before a full handoff.

Systems, training and travel

Hink described system licensing costs and training: equipment and license fees are budgeted, and staff training is planned for governmental accounting pronouncements going into effect July 1, 2025. Program costs noted include CPA license fees, continuing professional education (CPE), and subscriptions such as PBN. Travel funding includes conference travel for government finance officers.

Procurement and contracting

Procurement staff reported there are roughly 120–130 contracts totaling about $15–16 million in annual spend, most of which are grant contracts with community organizations. Procurement staff and trustees identified the RGP contract (the independent consultants supporting accounting) as critical to transition planning and recommended considering an extension or retained availability for continuity.

Clarifications and next steps

Trustees asked for job descriptions and updated position descriptions for controller, senior accountant, accountant and budget director; Ramona agreed to prepare them after her planned vacation (she said June 2). Trustees asked administration to accelerate hiring and provide clearer timelines to ensure a stable handoff before the consultants’ contracts end on August 31.

Ending

The committee emphasized urgency on compensation adjustments and hiring so the incoming finance team can be onboarded and trained before the consultants depart. CFO Hink and Kapohana Pereira committed to follow up with job descriptions, compensation benchmarking and an implementation timeline for the personnel transition and system rollouts.