OVER $11.4 million in CNMI expenses related to the activity “non-congregate shelter/quarantine” was deemed ineligible under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Public Assistance Program, Public Assistance Officer Patrick C. Guerrero said in a Nov. 15, 2023, letter to Senate President Edith Deleon Guerrero.
Guerrero’s letter was in response to the Senate president’s Open Government Act request for information regarding the CNMI’s Covid-19 response expenses from 2020 to 2023, and FEMA reimbursements for those expenses.
Among other things, the Senate president wanted to know the total amount of the CNMI’s Covid-19 response expense disapproved or denied for reimbursement by FEMA, “including the date, amount, purpose, and reason for disapproval.”
In his letter, Guerrero said the over $11.4 million in CNMI expenses deemed ineligible by FEMA included hotel room charges for the Pacific Islands Club and Kanoa Resort, hotel lobby spaces designated for the Alternate Care Site at Kanoa, disinfection services at the quarantine sites and for other related costs.
Guerrero said the costs were denied “due to leased spaces that were not utilized for quarantine activities or the ACS at the time, or for cost reasonableness.”
However, since “they were not eligible under the FEMA public assistance program, it is our understanding that the denied costs were charged to other federal grants or funding sources.”
Guerrero added that the ineligible costs only occurred in the first contracts for non-congregate shelter/quarantine sites. All subsequent contracts, he said, were adjusted to address the ineligibility issues of the previous contracts.
Guerrero also provided a list of the CNMI’s applications for reimbursement that are pending FEMA review. These include the costs of utilizing the Kanoa Resort alternate sites amounting to $30 million.
He said the CNMI Public Assistance Office, under the presidentially declared disaster, FEMA DR-4511-MP, “is currently active in reviewing project applications for reimbursements from multiple applicants as this disaster is still in its administrative and closeout phases.”
Inconsistent
The Senate president has said that she was seeking clarification due to “inconsistent” reports made by U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, and the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
“However,” Guerrero said, “I do not see any inconsistency and I believe background information or clarification are necessary to understand the reported figures. Congressman Sablan’s reports on both occasions in August 2023 for the $9.8M in obligations and October 2023 for the $21.4M are confirmed amounts awarded to the CNMI. Governor Arnold I. Palacios’ announcement in October is also accurate when his office announced $22.1M (not $21.1M as stated in your letter) of which includes the $21.4M reported by Congressman Sablan and an additional close to $700k that was awarded around the same time, but not reported by Sablan. Governor Palacios also stated that over the last 10 months (January 2023 through October 2023) the CNMI received approximately $36M in reimbursements, bringing the total amount obligated to the CNMI for Public Assistance grants to $98.1M for the Covid-19 event that began in January 2020.”
As for the GAO report released in September 2023, Guerrero said “it is also accurate that at the time the information was gathered in May 2023, there were approximately $58M in expenses submitted to FEMA for cost and eligibility reviews. Since June 2023, the CNMI has received $34.9M of the reported $36M that was obligated in that 10-month period, which would translate to a remaining potential reimbursement of around $23M. However, since May of 2023, additional applications and submitted costs by eligible applicants is now estimated at $30M…. These amounts could fluctuate often and are not final. The project application period for all costs associated with this event is currently being extended to February 2024 and therefore, the costs may increase as more submissions are received by our office.”
Guerrero said the Senate president is “most welcome to visit us anytime your schedule permits for more information on the reimbursement process between eligible applicants in the CNMI and our office or between our office and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.”
