By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
Variety News Staff

ASSISTANT Minority Leader Rory Respicio, D-Agana Heights, is satisfied with the administration’s $460 million budget proposal for fiscal year 2008, but maintains that there is a need for the Legislature to revisit and modify the current fiscal year budget, which is pegged at $457 million.
“I commend the Camacho administration for heeding our call of having a realistic revenue projection. The governor has submitted a revenue level that shows a modest increase and I’m hoping that this would give us an opportunity to revisit our fiscal year 2007 budget,” said Respicio, one of the most vocal critics of the administration’s fiscal management.
He reiterated the Democrats’ position that the fiscal year 2007 revenue forecast and spending level be lowered to $435 million.
“Right now, based on the first three months of actual cash collection, we are predicting a collection of between $430 million and $435 million. This means that at the end of the current fiscal year, we will have a shortfall of about $22 million,” Respicio said.
He recalled that the administration projected a revenue level of $435 million in FY 2006, but collected only $417 million.
Last week, Gov. Felix P. Camacho submitted the administration’s new budget proposal, in which he acknowledged the Democrats’ claim that the administration’s deficit has grown to more than $500 million and asked the Legislature for more fund realignment flexibility.
Camacho said the administration is projecting FY 2008 revenues to reach $562 million, with $460 million coming from a “moderate growth” in general fund revenues, and $102 million coming from special fund revenues.
Respicio said it’s too premature for the administration to factor the revenues expected from military expansion, considering the vagueness of the military’s plans for Marines relocation from Okinawa, Japan to Guam.
Smarting from Democratic senators’ criticism of the administration’s fiscal operations, the governor asked that budget discussion be carried out in a “responsible” manner.