In FY 2008, which ended on Sept. 30, 2008, the executive branch was allotted $74.8 million but recorded $86.8 million in actual expenditures.
Based on the preliminary and unaudited report of Finance Secretary Eloy Inos to the Legislature, the entire government incurred an $18.1 million deficit in FY 2008.
Inos attributed the deficit to the $4.5 million shortfall in revenue collections and $13.6 million in excess expenditures.
Besides the executive branch, the following are the other government instrumentalities that overspent in FY 2008: Rota, $441,800; Tinian, $967,989; Washington Representative’s Office, $18,595; boards and commissions, $56,221; judiciary, $469,153; and the Legislature, $134,881.
The government, moreover, had a $2.7 million budget for utilities but ended up paying $4.6 million.
Inos said there were also excess expenditures on personnel, $8 million; and on “all others,” $3.5 million.
The overspending on personnel was caused by the absence of austerity measures, he added, while the overspending on utilities could have been averted if the government’s contribution rate to the Retirement Fund was set at 11 percent.
The excessive medical referral costs and unbudgeted local share for Medicaid expenditures were the primary contributors to the $3.5 million overspending on operations, Inos said.
His report noted the significant decline in business gross revenue tax collections — $3.4 million less than the estimate.
The excise tax collection was $2.6 million less than the estimate, while the garment user fee was also $2.6 million less than the estimate.
There was a notable increase in hospital collections, Inos said, but only modest increases in various license fees, nonresident worker and alien registration fees and the Marianas Public Land Trust’s interest income.
These increases were not significant enough to offset the combined effect of the severe decline in the CNMI’s major revenue sources, he added.
According to Inos, a final report on the government’s finances will be completed by the end of this month.
