House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Ramon S. Basa, Covenant-Saipan, said these are among the drastic austerity measures that public servants may have to face in FY 2011 which starts on Oct. 1, 2010.
Basa said there is no way the government can survive without putting in place unpopular austerity measures.
He said acting Finance Secretary Robert Schrack briefed him this week about the current situation of the government coffers and the numbers just don’t add up.
Businesses pay the business gross receipt tax on a quarterly basis and this makes it more difficult for the government as cash is not on hand to sustain its huge payroll of $280,000 each day or $2.8 million every two weeks.
The cash-strapped CNMI government also has to remit 16 percent of the payroll to the Retirement Fund.
Basa said the FY 2011 budget is expected to be discussed next month to ensure that a timely budget is passed and the shutdown of government operations is avoided.
He said he introduced the unpopular austerity measure to enable the CNMI government to keep its operations afloat.
“I am not afraid. I want people to understand that they put me here. No matter how difficult the decision is going to be, I will do it,” he told the Variety.
Based on the governor’s proposal, the Department of Public Health will get a budget of $32.430 million in FY 2011; the Department of Public Safety, $8 million; the Department of Corrections, $2.299 million; the Public School System, $30.132 million; Northern Marianas College, $4.788 million; the Marianas Visitors Authority, $5.394 million; and the Division of Youth Services, $678,920.
“As evidenced by the accompanying budget worksheets, the total amount of funding requested by the various departments and activities exceeded available resources by some $65 million. While I wholeheartedly support the individual requests, I am mindful of the need to operate within available resources to maintain a balanced budget as required under the Constitution,” the governor told the Legislature in his budget transmittal letter.
