DOTAX Insanity: Tax Delinquencies up 15%--Will Josh Green Reappoint Director?

By Andrew Walden @ 11:15 PM :: 124 Views

by Andrew Walden

With Josh Green all-but-guaranteed reelection, State Senators are turning their attention towards Green’s second term cabinet appointments.

Akamai readers will remember Hawaii Department of Taxation (DoTax) employees, led by DoTax Administrative Services Officer Min Meng, boldly signing their names to a September 24, 2025 letter to the Governor, demanding an ‘independent investigation’ of DoTax Director Gary Suganuma. The whistleblowers directly question Suganuma’s sanity and accuse him of following employees to the restroom, spying, and obsessing over parking assignments.

Suganuma was not removed. And the whistleblowers did not get their ‘independent investigation.’

The Green Administration allowed Suganuma to draw $50,000 from DoTax funds to pay for an ‘internal’ investigation. DoTax whistleblowers were then subject to individual questioning by local lawfirm ES&A operating under Suganuma’s DoTax contract.

Senators noticed.

Grilling Suganuma at the Senate Ways and Means (WAM) Committee January 7, 2026 budget briefing, committee members questioned the purpose and funding source of the contract. WAM Chair Donovan Dela Cruz pointed out, “This contract shouldn’t be there, and this shouldn’t be your contract.” Senator Hashimoto asked, “Where did you get this $50,000?”

Meanwhile, as Legislators were pressured to raise taxes, DoTax collections on delinquent tax debts have dropped sharply:

The 2025 DoTax Annual Report, released in March, 2026, lists a $1,648.9 million delinquent tax balance--up from $1,434.3 for FY 2024. The increase of $214.6 million, 15%, in one year represents nearly $600,000 increase in delinquencies for each day from June 30, 2024 through June 30, 2025—the time period covered by the DoTax whistleblowers’ September, 2025 letter.

Out-of-state tax liens are a big part of the shortfall:

A July, 2023 DoTax solicitation, (RFP-24-TAX-01) for ‘Out-of-State Lien Enforcement Services,’ reported $213 million in potentially collectible out-of-state delinquent taxes as of March 31, 2023. The August, 2026 version of the same solicitation, RFP-27-TAX-01, reported approximately $373 million as of April 30, 2026. That's an $160 million increase in uncollected out-of-state tax debts under Suganuma.

Now a new complaint letter from DoTax Administrative Services Officer Min Meng, dated October 12, 2026, is circulating among Senators.

PDF: October 12, 2026 Letter

According to Meng’s letter, Suganuma doubled-down after being grilled by WAM. He expanded ES&A’s contract to $75,000 and then used the ES&A report to make the DOTax employees’ whistleblower complaint go away. Then, Suganuma illegally suspended Meng despite his whistleblower protections, and used more DoTax funds to hire yet another lawfirm, Marr Jones & Wang LLP, to conduct another ‘investigation’ which Meng says is ultimately intended to justify firing him. That ‘investigation’ is now ongoing.

Here is the timeline:

September 24, 2025: Meng files a complaint against DOTAX Director Gary Suganuma requesting an independent investigation. Two days later, Meng notified the Attorney General, DHRD Director, and Hawaii Civil Rights Commission that he considered the complaint protected whistleblower activity.
October 9, 2025: Suganuma/DoTax launders contract with ES&A through AG’s office to conduct a non-independent ‘investigation’ for which DoTax is paying. (LINK pg19)
October 16–21, 2025: The Governor’s Office, apparently referring to ES&A, claims an ‘external’ investigator would conduct an administrative investigation limited to possible Executive Branch policy and procedure violations. Meng requests state and federal law violations also be included.
January 7, 2026: During a Senate Ways and Means budget briefing, legislators questioned the DOTAX investigation contract and its funding. Meng’s letter states the ES&A contract later rose from $50,000 to $75,000.
March, 2026: 2025 DoTax Annual Report released.
June 5, 2026: The Governor’s Office reports the ES&A ‘investigation’ found Director Suganuma had not violated the policies reviewed. ES&A also ‘decided’ state and federal law violations were outside the investigation’s contracted scope.
June 24–July 2, 2026: Meng requested a further investigation into the unreviewed legal allegations. Governor’s Chief of Staff Brooke Wilson and Attorney General Anne Lopez denied the request on July 1 and July 2 respectively.
July 16, 2026: DOTAX issued Meng a ‘Notice of Investigation’ alleging misconduct and placed him on paid leave while the investigation proceeded. The so-called ‘misconduct’ consists entirely of filing the original September, 2025 complaint. Meng characterizes this action as retaliation connected to the original complaint and investigation; the document says Marr Jones & Wang LLP is conducting this new ‘investigation.’