Edwin Aldan
MAYOR Edwin P. Aldan on Monday said Tinian has a “thriving economy.”
During a budget hearing conducted by the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee on Tinian, Aldan reiterated his $12 million budget request for fiscal year 2025, and the reinstatement of 31 mayor’s office employees.
He said, “While the rest of the CNMI is in a state of economic collapse Tinian is thriving.”
For example, in fiscal year 2022, the mayor said the total business gross revenue tax collected on Tinian was $1.04 million while excise taxes amounted to $63,000. In FY 2023, the island’s BGRT collections more than doubled to $2.56 million while excise taxes increased 10 times to $661,000, he added.
As of July 31, 2024, Aldan said the total BGRT collected on Tinian was $6.9 million, and the excise tax collections in just 10 months amounted to $1.6 million.
“I point out this tax collection for the past years because the activities on Tinian are providing a lifeline for the CNMI government at a time when all other taxes [collected] in the CNMI are decreasing,” Aldan said.
He said the Department of Finance may not have accurately projected the taxes that Tinian collected from importations of construction materials for military projects.
According to the mayor, a revised revenue projection that aligns more closely with the military’s actual activities on Tinian “could potentially yield millions of dollars in additional tax revenue.”
Aldan said these funds could be utilized not only for the reinstatement of the currently unfunded employees of his office, but also provide funding to crucial operating expenses and other vital services, such as the 25% for retirees, utilities, medical referral, or group health and life insurance of government employees across the CNMI.
“We need to work together to collect all the fees and taxes that should be levied on [Department of Defense] projects to include the developers tax. We stand to collect millions of dollars in developers tax every year from the DoD buildup on Tinian,” the mayor said.
Meantime, he added, the Legislature should adequately fund the Tinian resident offices of the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services, the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs, and the Department of Public Works.
