In his letter to the governor, Manglona said it is “unacceptable” that the commonwealth has been “forgoing” the opportunity to get maximum CIP monies annually.
He said the CNMI continues to receive less CIP funding each year. Historically, the commonwealth has been guaranteed a minimum of $9 million and a maximum of 13 million annually.
Failing to proceed with projects in a timely manner and meet federal guidelines means less funding than the previous year.
Manglona, Ind.-Rota, noted that this year, the CNMI received $9.5 million, just a little over the minimum funding.
He said the CNMI’s CIP program “is not competitive or managed as efficiently as other insular areas” and this is why “we are forgoing almost a million dollars this year.”
The loss of funds, Manglona said, suggests that “we need to reevaluate how we manage…projects.”
He noted that Vicky Villagomez, who is in charge of CIP’s, is also the chief of the Office of Management and Budget, while Jim Stump, who also works on CIP’s, is a tax attorney with the Attorney General’s Office.
In an email, Press Secretary Angel Demapan said that while the administration recognizes Manglona’s concerns, the CIP office has the staff dedicated solely to CIP functions.
“In as much as the administration would like to see CIP funds are expended right away, it is important to note that there are processes that must be complied with,” Demapan added.
“In order to expedite implementation of CIP programs the governor assigned additional resources to this task. In the past 14 months, 44 projects have been brought under contract for implementation and we project an expenditure level of $11,235,541 for 2011, which represents 112 percent expenditure of the annual allocation in just the 44 projects being administered by the CIP office,” Demapan explained.
CIP expenditure levels, he added, are poised to see an even greater increase in 2012 as many of the “three-pronged” projects will begin the third and final phase which is the construction work.
