By Gerardo R. Partido
Variety News Staff

VICE Speaker Eddie Calvo, R-Maite and chairman of the finance committee, will be leading a roundtable discussion on government finances today to determine the status of the GovGuam deficit.
The meeting is also expected to go over Gov. Felix P. Camacho’s budget and fiscal executive order 2007-02, which contains various measures to contain costs in the government of Guam.
Last month, the governor submitted his fiscal year 2008 budget to the Legislature, acknowledging that the deficit has grown to more than $500 million and asks lawmakers for more flexibility in managing government finances.
Camacho said the recent addition of $30 million in earned income tax credit payments and $123 million in prior year cost of living allowance payments have further exacerbated the government’s financial situation.
According to Sen. Rory J. Respicio, D-Agana Heights, the administration’s actual 2007 revenues must be examined closely because while fiscal year 2007 appropriations totaled $457 million, “the administration has admitted they are tracking just $447 million.”
“My own office abacus has come up with $432 million. I think everyone would appreciate having a better handle on just how much larger our cash shortfall will be for the current year,” Respicio said in a letter to the legislative finance committee.
Respicio earlier warned that GovGuam may face a $1 billion deficit in two years if changes in how the government manages its finances are not implemented.
Respicio attributed the increasing deficit to “the administration’s practice of constantly overestimating revenue and collections.”
He said the administration must try harder to follow cash receipts and use due diligence in its finances, describing the GovGuam budget as the most politically charged issue that the administration and the Legislature face every year.
The roundtable meeting today is a continuation of last Friday’s meeting. According to Calvo, last week’s meeting did not shed too much light on the true state of GovGuam finances.
To get more answers, Calvo has again invited administration officials to attend today’s roundtable, including officials from the Department of Administration, the Department of Revenue and Taxation, and the Bureau of Budget and Management Research.
Calvo said GovGuam’s finances need to be straightened out to finally solve the funding shortfalls experienced by various agencies, including the Guam Public School System and the University of Guam.
Sen. Judith Guthertz, D-Mangilao, said the ongoing roundtable on GovGuam finances is long overdue and much welcomed.
“While we are pleased that the decision has finally been made to begin the work of assessing the true financial condition of our government, we have allowed nearly half of the current fiscal year to pass without seriously addressing solutions to our problems. It is our hope that discussion of initiatives that must be put in place from both the administration and the Legislature will progress quickly,” Guthertz said in a letter to the governor.
Among the questions that Guthertz wants answered are when the administration can submit a deficit elimination and financial recovery plan, as well as exactly how much the government expects to save from its proposed cost containment measures.
Guthertz has a pending bill that seeks to recall the governor’s 2007 budget.