June 3, 2002 – Traveling more than halfway around the world recently for a training conference with his peers, V.I. Inspector General Steven Van Beverhoudt discovered that some basic facts of how governments do business are the same, regardless of the latitude and longitude. Van Beverhoudt was the sole invitee from the Atlantic Ocean to the Association of Pacific Islands Public Auditors 13th annual training conference last month in Guam.
He didn't come back empty handed. The Virgin Islands is now the only Atlantic member of the Pacific Ocean association. And, Van Beverhoudt said, "They are all excited for us to sponsor a conference in the future." The conferences are largely funded by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
A benefit of being an APIPA member is peer review. "It's basically an audit of the auditors, which the association does every three years," Van Beverhoudt said.
In addition to attending training sessions, the I.G. had time to compare notes on common concerns, not the least of which is funding. He is frankly envious of the system used in the Northern Mariana Islands.
The public audit offices in "just about all the Pacific territories are suffering budget cuts," Van Beverhoudt said, "except the Marianas. They get 1 percent of the annual budget every year, so no one can really mess with it." That amounts to about $2.5 million, he said, "and they have a staff of 35." Saipan, the largest island of the Marianas, has a population of about 70,000, he said.
Van Beverhoudt has just gotten a blow from his own government. The Fiscal Year 2003 budget that Gov. Charles W. Turnbull sent to the Legislature last week calls for cutting the funding for the V.I. Bureau of Audit and Control from the current $1,148,000 to about $1,095,000.
At his reappointment hearing before the Senate Rules Committee on Thursday, Van Beverhoudt told the lawmakers that he hoped over time to increase his annual budget from $1.1 million to $2.5 million. He noted that "currently there are only 11 employees on board, although 19 positions are budgeted." The senators indicated support for his office getting an operating increase. "I'll have to remind them of that," he said Monday.
He said the federal government felt it was important for the Virgin Islands to be represented at the Pacific conference, and the feds picked up the tab.
At the gathering, the other auditors were "very much interested" in the Virgin Islands' Audit Task Force, a tool none of them have, he said. Doris Flores Brooks, the conference chair and the public auditor for Guam, wanted to know the system worked.
Van Beverhoudt said he explained that the territory has an assistant attorney general, Gabriel Villegas, who "works directly with us." Villegas began working in the Inspector General's office last November under a federal grant; in April, when the grant expired, the I.G'.s office picked up his salary.
"We have many similar issues," Van Beverhoudt said of the other territories' auditors attending the conference. "Theirs are small island communities like ours, and the same problems exists in investigating someone who is related to, or is friends with." And they suffer the common plight of seeing their recommendations "either ignored or never implemented."
Most of the auditors for the Pacific territories work closely with the federal government and refer a lot of their cases to their U.S. Attorney's office or to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, something his office seldom does, Van Beverhoudt said. "We work with them, but we try to do it on our own," he said.
Three concurrent training sessions were offered at the conference, Van Beverhoudt said, the Auditor Track, the Audit Supervisor/Manager Track and the Accounting/Finance Track. Something he found of particular interest was Quick Response Auditing.
"Lots of times you need to get something done quickly and you don't need a full-fledged audit," he explained. "For instance, say an agency has a contract they want you to look at. You can respond in a week or so in the form of a letter. Or you do quick-response engagements when something affects just one issue."
Something that wasn't quick was getting to Guam "It takes two days to get there," Van Beverhoudt said. "I flew to San Francisco and overnighted. Then, it's five hours to Hawaii and another seven hours to Guam."
He said Guam has suffered a cutback in tourism just as the Virgin Islands and most of the world's other visitor destinations have since Sept. 11. "Most of their tourism comes from the Asian market," he said. "In fact, Guam's governor, Carl T.C. Gutierrez, was off drumming up business in China when I was there. It's too far for Americans to come." Guam, like the Virgin Islands, has targeted the wedding market. "Almost all the big hotels on the beach have a chapel," he said.
He also noted it's a small world politically. "Their delegate to Congress, who used to be a senator, is running for governor," he said.
APIPA was formed in 1988 to promote efficiency and accountability of public resources within the island governments. Its membership consists of the public auditors of the Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Palau, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Republic of the Marshall Islands and Guam — and now the U.S. Virgin Islands
Van Beverhoudt said about 200 persons attended the conference, including a good number of private business people and Certified Public Accountants.
Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
