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Kokua Line

By June Watanabe

State will continue to mail
checks to mainland banks

Question: State workers who bank with an out-of-state financial institution do not have access to their funds for a period of time that varies from eight to 11 days after the pay period ending. This is because the Department of Accounting and General Services still uses the U.S. Postal Service to mail the checks to these mainland banks. This problem is further exacerbated when the bank doesn't receive the checks, as happened to several employees this past March. From discovery, to notification of DAGS, to communication with the bank -- it took more than three weeks to straighten things out. I do not know the extent of this as problem within the state, but it's big enough that the state comptroller issued a memorandum on April 17, requesting that all state employees who have their paychecks sent out-of-state be informed of the possible delays in accessing their funds. In the private sector or federal government, this would be totally unacceptable. When is the state of Hawaii , which talks a good story about being on the cutting edge, going to join the rest of the world and use electronic banking to pay their employees on time?

Answer: It won't happen anytime soon because of the cost involved in switching to the Automated Clearing House process to electronically deposit an employee's paycheck, according to state Comptroller Glenn Okimoto.

The state has explored the possibility of switching to the automated system, but doing so would cost an additional $56,000 or so a year, he said. Because of the state's budget woes, Okimoto said a decision was made to "defer the switch at this time."

Employees requesting out-of-state pay deposits are informed about the possible delays, he said. As result, most opt for intra-state accounts. Okimoto noted that for the April 15, 2002, pay period, of 53,631 "assignments," only 103 were sent out-of-state.

Because of a complaint that an out-of-state account had not credited an employee for the March 20 payday, a separate memo was issued to remind all employees of the possible lag period for out-of-state accounts, Okimoto said.

Q: I just called the city bulky item pickup city people and they told me they only pick up things within a certain cubic feet, such as the size of two washing machines. But if someone has a lot of furniture items, how do we get rid of them? They don't take everything. Maybe this is the reason people dump furniture into the stream.

A: There's no excuse for someone to dump furniture or trash into a stream; neither is there any reason to.

You did not leave a phone number so we don't know where you live. However, indications are that you live in a rural area, where there are restrictions as to how much you can put out for bulky item pickup at any one time.

That's because, as explained in Kokua Line last year, pickup in the Windward and Leeward areas is every two weeks, as opposed to every four weeks in urban Honolulu.

Because pickup is less frequent and stretches over two and a half days in each neighborhood, there is no set limit for Honolulu residents.

However, rural residents are limited to 2 cubic yards, the equivalent of a washing machine OR stove PLUS a sofa, for example, because pickup is scheduled for one specific day each period, a refuse collection official explained.

If you have a lot of furniture to discard, you're advised to put a little out at a time.

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Got a question or complaint?
Call 529-4773, fax 529-4750, or write to Kokua Line,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu 96813. As many as possible will be answered.
E-mail to kokualine@starbulletin.com