PART II. BUDGET AND FINANCE
§323F-21 Fiscal provisions. (a) There is created in the state treasury a special fund to be known as the health systems special fund, into which shall be deposited all fees, proceeds, reimbursements, and the like owed to or received by the corporation, any regional system board, and its facilities, except as herein provided. There shall be established within the special fund regional subaccounts for each regional system board upon its establishment. The special fund and the regional subaccounts shall be used solely to fulfill the purposes outlined in this chapter.
The corporation and each regional system board may establish and maintain, within the health systems special fund or any regional subaccount, any other accounts that may be necessary and appropriate to carry out its purposes and responsibilities.
The corporation and any regional system board may deposit moneys into trustee accounts for the purposes of securing or issuing bonds.
The corporation and regional system boards may provide reasonable reserves for any of the following purposes:
(1) Insurance deductibles;
(2) The improvement, replacement, or expansion of their facilities or services;
(3) The securing of the corporation's or regional system boards' bonds, notes, or other instruments of indebtedness; or
(4) Any other purpose the corporation or the regional system boards deem necessary or appropriate in the performance of their purposes and responsibilities.
(b) The corporation board and regional system boards shall collaboratively develop budgetary guidelines and annual operating and capital budgets for each facility, taking into account anticipated surpluses from or subsidies to the facilities pursuant to the annual guidelines described in this section, accumulated corporation and regional reserves and accounts, subsidies, if any, that are determined to be needed from the general fund, and other sources of corporation-wide and regional income as may be identified. Two-year budgets will be approved for regional system boards, in alignment with State of Hawaii biennium budgeting. The corporate board shall not alter the two-year budget of a regional system except:
(1) Where state general funding is reduced;
(2) An emergency exists; or
(3) There is a renegotiated budget approved by a regional system board.
The corporation and regional system boards shall collaboratively develop budgetary guidelines and negotiate with each facility reasonable corporation administrative costs, including funds determined by the corporation or any regional system board to be needed from or provided to each facility to:
(1) Repay corporation or regional system board debts;
(2) Provide subsidies to any facility determined to be unable to fund from within that facility's programs and services deemed essential to community needs; and
(3) Maintain appropriate reserves.
(c) The corporation and regional system boards shall collaboratively develop annual corporation operating and capital budgets, taking into account anticipated surpluses from or subsidies to the facilities pursuant to the annual guidelines described in this section, accumulated corporation and regional system board reserves and accounts, subsidies, if any, that are determined to be needed from the general fund, and other sources of corporation-wide and regional system board income as may be identified.
(d) Beginning with the first of the legislative biennium budget years following the establishment of a regional system board, and for each biennium period thereafter, the corporation shall call together all the regional systems through representatives selected by each regional system board, and the chairs of the facility management advisory committees, if any, to determine which services and functions should be provided by the corporation for the next biennium budget period, consistent with this chapter. As part of the biennium budgeting process, the corporation board and the representatives of each regional system, working through the corporation board regional representatives, shall agree upon an allocation methodology for funding the agreed upon and statutorily created corporate services and functions.
(e) The corporation may share in any facility's surplus and may offset any facility's deficits as provided herein. Any regional system board shall share in the surplus of any facility within the regional system and shall offset any facility deficits within its regional system. Operating surpluses of the regional system board shall be reinvested in the operations of that regional system in any prudent manner; provided that upon request, and subject to authorization by the regional system board, the regional system board may share its surplus or resources with a facility outside of the regional system to benefit the corporation-wide system of health care. Obligations undertaken by a facility shall be paid only from funds of that facility, unless the corporation board, the regional system board managing the facility, or an authorized agent explicitly agrees to guarantee the obligation. Loans and other transfers may be made between regional systems upon approval of the affected regional system boards to assist in the cash flow and operations of the public health facilities.
(f) In accordance with each annual facility budget, and subject to policies established by the corporation board and by each regional system board, each facility of the corporation and regional system board, respectively, shall:
(1) Bill and collect for its services;
(2) Maintain bank accounts; and
(3) Pay for needed personnel, supplies, equipment, and other operational and capital expenditures.
(g) The corporation and each regional system board, subject to policies established by the corporation and each regional system board, respectively, may elect to manage its own capital improvement project and funds, either directly or indirectly by contract; provided that annual reports of the project moneys are provided to the governor and legislature.
(h) The corporation board and regional system boards may hold public informational meetings on their budgets. Representatives of any county government, state government, or any other person having an interest in the budget, shall have the right to be heard at the meetings. [L 1996, c 262, pt of §2; am L 2007, c 290, §30]