THE Senate on Tuesday unanimously adopted Senate Joint Resolution 23-2 which requests Gov. Arnold I. Palacios to task the Department of Finance-Division of Revenue and Taxation to collect all business gross revenue taxes owed to the government.
S.J.R. 23-2 cited the Nutrition Assistance Program tax audit report from 2018 to 2021 indicating that $24.8 million of NAP gross revenue “is unreported.” Amid the financial crisis faced by the CNMI government, the joint resolution stated that “it is highly critical that strict timely collections of all revenues be enforced.”
According to the resolution, the Division of Revenue and Taxation “must investigate the variance between the amount of NAP amounts issued and what the businesses report on their BGRT documents.”
All of the eight senators voted to adopt S.J.R. 23-2 which was authored by Senate President Edith Deleon Guerrero. Sen. Karl King-Nabors was excused.
Citing the administration’s plan to revise the fiscal year 2023 budget in light of a funding shortfall, the joint resolution stated that the fiscal response team formed by the governor “is collecting all information and data as to what funds are available and will make an accurate projection so that the CNMI can have a balanced budget.”
The governor’s fiscal response team is composed of the Department of Finance, the Office of Management and Budget, the Public Assistance Office and Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
These agencies, according to acting Finance Secretary Tracy B. Norita, are still “reconciling” the numbers pertaining to the expenditures of American Rescue Plan Act funds and ARPA-related projects.
Senate President Edith Deleon Guerrero speaks during a Senate session on Tuesday.
