Update to RCUH’s Micro-Purchase Threshold (Effective August 1, 2018)

As discussed in our July 11, 2018 announcement, effective August 1, 2018, RCUH’s micro-purchase threshold (“MPT”) will increase from $3,500 to $10,000 for all purchases, with the exception of purchases made using federal contract funds.  Thus, RCUH will be utilizing an MPT of $10,000 for federal grant and cooperative agreement funds, as well as non-federal funds.  For federal contract funds, the existing $3,500 threshold will remain in place until the $10,000 threshold is adopted by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”).

Revisions to the MPT (as well as other minor changes) have been made in the following:

The aforementioned polices and document will be effective and available for viewing on the Policies and Procedures section of the RCUH website on August 1, 2018.

Questions may be directed to Erin Yoda, RCUH Procurement and Disbursing Manager, at 808-956-3969 or [email protected].

Legal Professional Services Awards – Fiscal Year 2019

 

Project Title To provide legal services related to employment, to the RCUH Corporate Office.
Selected Consultant Barry W. Marr, Esq. (Marr Jones & Wang LLP)
Contract Amount $50,000.00
Date of Award July 18, 2018
Consultants Considered (ranked candidates) Richard M. Rand (Marr Jones & Wang); Sarah O. Wang (Marr Jones & Wang); Lynne T.T. Toyofuku (Marr Jones & Wang); Darin Leong (Marr Jones & Wang); Patrick H. Jones (Marr Jones & Wang); Christopher J. Cole (Marr Jones & Wang); Lincoln S. Ashida (Torkildson Katz Moore Hetherington Harris & Knorek); Christopher S.Y. Yeh (Marr Jones & Wang); Newton J. Chu (Torkildson Katz Moore Hetherington Harris & Knorek); Megumi Sakae (Marr Jones & Wang); Eileen C. Zorc (Marr Jones & Wang); Kristi O’Heron (Marr Jones & Wang) (late submittal).
Appointing Officer Sylvia Yuen
Project Title To provide legal services related to employee benefits/taxes, to the RCUH Corporate Office.
Selected Consultant Joseph D’Amato, Esq. (D’Amato & Maloney, LLP)
Contract Amount $20,000.00
Date of Award July 18, 2018
Consultants Considered (ranked candidates) No other applicants in the specialty area of employee benefits.  Other applicants in the general employment field included:  Barry W. Marr, Esq. (Marr Jones & Wang LLP); Richard M. Rand (Marr Jones & Wang); Sarah O. Wang (Marr Jones & Wang); Lynne T.T. Toyofuku (Marr Jones & Wang); Darin Leong (Marr Jones & Wang); Patrick H. Jones (Marr Jones & Wang); Christopher J. Cole (Marr Jones & Wang); Lincoln S. Ashida (Torkildson Katz Moore Hetherington Harris & Knorek); Christopher S.Y. Yeh (Marr Jones & Wang); Newton J. Chu (Torkildson Katz Moore Hetherington Harris & Knorek); Megumi Sakae (Marr Jones & Wang); Eileen C. Zorc (Marr Jones & Wang); Kristi O’Heron (Marr Jones & Wang) (late submittal).
Appointing Officer Sylvia Yuen
Project Title To provide legal services related to immigration, to the RCUH Corporate Office.
Selected Consultant Newton J. Chu, Esq. (Torkildson Katz Moore Hetherington Harris & Knorek)
Contract Amount $10,000.00
Date of Award July 21, 2018
Consultants Considered (ranked candidates) Vaughn Cook (Torkildson Katz Moore Hetherington Harris & Knorek)
Appointing Officer Sylvia Yuen

Future Update to RCUH’s Micro-Purchase Threshold

Effective August 1, 2018, RCUH’s micro-purchase threshold (“MPT”) will increase from $3,500 to $10,000 for all purchases, with the exception of purchases made using federal contract funds.

This change is being made pursuant to a memo released by the Office of Management and Budget, which granted an exception to allow the application of an MPT of $10,000 for federal grant and cooperative agreement funds.  Based on this allowance, RCUH will be utilizing an MPT of $10,000 for federal grant and cooperative agreement funds, as well as non-federal funds.  For federal contract funds, the existing $3,500 threshold will remain in place until the $10,000 threshold is adopted by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”).

Micro-purchases (i.e., purchases at and below the MPT) are made using the most advantageous price, terms, and other factors affecting the total cost; the approval of the Fiscal Administrator signifies that a determination has been made that the price is fair and reasonable.  Documentation of the record of competition and/or method of selection (e.g., obtaining competitive quotes, sole source and/or cost price justification, etc.), is not required for micro-purchases.

Revisions to the MPT will be reflected in Policy 2.103 Request for Quotation, as well as other policies and forms that reference the MPT.  An announcement with links to the new policies and forms will be posted prior to the August 1, 2018 implementation date.

Questions may be directed to Erin Yoda, RCUH Procurement and Disbursing Manager, at 808-956-3969 or [email protected].

FINANCIAL SYSTEM PROCESSING NOW AVAILABLE

The RCUH fiscal year-end processing has been completed. You may now approve on-line purchase orders, payments, and travel in the Financial Portal. The first check run for fiscal year 2019 will be on Thursday, July 5, 2018 at 4:00 PM.

Reminder: Service dates are required for all payment transactions through Friday, August 31. For payments approved after August 3, $100,000 or greater, and with service dates of June 30 or earlier, please complete the attached RCUH AP Worksheet. Please include estimates or projections for invoices that have not been received as of August 3.  Please email your worksheet to Liane Murai at [email protected] by Monday, August 6.

Please refer to the May 1, 2018 General Announcement on Service Dates for more information.

New Procurement Online Course

RCUH’s newest training offering is an online course, “Purchase Orders and Contracts.” It is presented in four modules, ranging from 4 to 26 minutes. The course will help you:

  • become familiar with the:
    • purchase order and contracting process and
    • RCUH policies and their applicability to the purchasing process
  • determine when a purchase is a standard or non-standard procurement
  • proactively identify issues, and
  • identify additional requirements needed to complete a procurement.

Purchasing scenarios are included to demonstrate the applicability of RCUH’s policies to various procurement and contract situations.

The “Purchase Orders and Contracts” course may be found in the RCUH Training Portal. If you need to request access to the RCUH Training Portal, please complete this form.

We wish to acknowledge the assistance of the review team who provided us with exceptional feedback during the development and production phases. We are grateful for their time and thoughtful comments.

Should you have any questions or comments about the course, please feel free to contact RCUH Procurement and Disbursing Manager Erin Yoda at [email protected].

Update to RCUH Policy 2.111 Purchases Over $150,000 Using Federal Funds

On April 23, 2018, an announcement was posted regarding the implementation of (1) Policy 2.111 Purchases Over $250,000 Using Federal Funds, and (2) an RCUH SuperQUOTE account.

The $250,000 threshold referenced in the draft Policy 2.111 was based on the federal simplified acquisition threshold (SAT), as authorized by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018.  RCUH has recently been informed, however, that because the new SAT amount of $250,000 has not yet been included in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), RCUH should refrain from utilizing the $250,000 threshold to avoid inconsistencies (some federal agencies have adopted the new limit, some have not).  As such, Policy 2.111 has been revised to note an SAT amount of $150,000 (currently referenced in the FAR), which will remain in place until the new $250,000 SAT amount is adopted by the FAR.

In addition, the language in Section II.B.3. of Policy 2.111 has also been revised to clarify the procedures that must be followed if there is a discrepancy with regard to the low bid.

Policy 2.111 Purchases Over $150,000 Using Federal Funds, shall be effective July 1, 2018.

Questions may be directed to Erin Yoda, RCUH Procurement and Disbursing Manager, at 808-956-3969 or [email protected].

June 8, 2018 Ethics Training – Kona

Online registration is open for the June 8, 2018 ethics training in Kona, led by the Hawai‘i State Ethics Commission. The class will provide an overview of the state ethics laws that apply to all state (including RCUH) employees. It is not a mandatory training for RCUH employees, but it is highly encouraged if you have not previously attended or would like a refresher. If you are unable to attend, another option is to view RCUH’s online course on the Hawai‘i State Ethics Code.

Date/Time: Friday, June 8, 2018, 10:00-11:30 a.m.

Location: Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA), Hale Iako Training Classroom, Room #119, 74-4460 Queen Kaahumanu Highway, #101, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Map

Register Now!

*Please note this training is managed and conducted by the Hawai‘i State Ethics Commission and not RCUH. For questions regarding this training, please call (808) 587-0460 or email [email protected].

RCUH Financial Portal – Reporting Updates

The Reporting function has been updated with the following new features:

  • The ability to drill down from category totals to a transaction list.
  • The ability to drill down from the transaction list to a document.
  • The ability to sort by column headers in the Budget Category Review and Detail of Cost reports.

Please refer to the attached release notes for further details.

If you have any questions, please contact Maile Brooks at [email protected] or (808) 988-8340.

Feedback on RCUH Services & Initiatives

We would appreciate your feedback on RCUH in general and a few recently launched new initiatives. Please complete a brief survey, which will take only about 5 minutes to complete. Your responses will be confidential and it will not be possible to link responses to specific individuals.

Your input will assist us in continuing to improve RCUH services. Thank you very much for your assistance. Please complete the survey by May 15, 2018.

Click here to access survey.

Service Dates for Online Payments During June 29 to August 31, 2018 Period

The fiscal year-end cut-off for RCUH online payment transactions is 12:00 noon on Friday, June 29, 2018.   All online payment transactions processed after Friday, June 29 through Friday, August 31, will require service dates.  The service date format is MM/DD/YY.

For payments that will be processed or approved after Friday, August 3, 2018, are $100,000 or greater, and have service dates of June 30, 2018 or earlier, please complete the attached RCUH AP Worksheet.  Please include estimates or projections for invoices that have not been received as of August 3.  Please email your worksheet to Maile Brooks at [email protected] by Monday, August 6.   If there are no payments to report, please email Maile to report that there are no items by Monday, August 6.

A service date field is provided on all payment forms and is identified with the heading “S/D”.  The service date is the date goods are received or services are performed.  For certain types of payments including travel completions, petty cash reimbursements, extended services, etc., the service date entered should be the last day of the period covered by the payment.  However, if the service period covers multiple fiscal years, allocate costs in each fiscal year incurred (i.e., if the service period is from June 1, 2018 to July 31, 2018, record costs incurred from June 1 to June 30 with a 06/30/18 service date and costs incurred from July 1 to July 31 with a 07/31/18 service date).

This information is needed to ensure that liabilities of RCUH are properly reported as of June 30, 2018.  Our auditors, Accuity LLP, will be reviewing selected documents processed during this period as part of their audit procedures.  Accordingly, please be advised that we may be requesting copies of payment documents for review.

Please contact Maile Brooks at 988-8340 or [email protected] if you have any questions.  Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.