By Gerardo R. Partido
Variety News Staff

THE Office of the Public Auditor estimates that the Attorney General’s Office owes about three months worth of rent.
In a report released yesterday, OPA said that during its discussions with Department of Administration personnel, it was determined that the AGO had not submitted rental invoices from October 2006 to January 2007.
“Therefore, we estimate that about $217,000 in rental obligation for four months from October through January has not been paid,” Public Auditor Doris Flores Brooks said in the report.
Additionally, in a recent court judgment issued in December 2006, OPA said the court stipulated that the AGO was to pay $320,4494 to former employee Alan Haeuser, including $71,020 for employer contributions.
The court also stipulated that the AGO satisfy the judgment amount in full before seeking assistance from the Legislature.
Despite the stipulations by the court, OPA said Bill 14 was introduced to appropriate up to $500,000 from the general fund to the AGO to satisfy the court judgment, and to terminate any restrictions placed on the AGO in the judgment.
However, OPA pointed out that no public hearing has been set on Bill 14.
For fiscal year 2007, OPA said the AGO has $6.5 million in total federal appropriations. For the first four months in FY 2007, the AGO was only allotted $4.4 million or 68 percent of the $6.5 million appropriated.
From Oct. 1, 2006 to Jan. 31, 2007, the AGO expended about $3.4 million—$1.3 million in actual expenditures and $2 million in outstanding encumbrances—or 52 percent of the $6.5 million appropriated, leaving about $3.1 million or only 48 percent for the remaining eight months.
However, OPA said $2.1 million has yet to be released by the Bureau of Budget Management and Research as of Jan. 31, 2007.
Thus, OPA concluded that a higher percentage of federal expenditures was used in the first four months of FY 2007 compared to local expenditures.