THE Commonwealth Casino Commission has $20,214, which is leftover from prior regulatory fees and $1 from the general fund.
In a citizen-centric report that commission chairman Edward C. Deleon Guerrero and executive director Andrew Yeom submitted to the Legislature last week, they said the commission’s fiscal year 2021 revenue “was limited to $20,215 [because of] the casino licensee’s failure to pay the annual casino regulatory fee of $3.15 million which was due on Oct. 1, 2020.”
The licensee, Imperial Pacific International, also failed to pay its regulatory fee for 2021, prompting Yeom to file a complaint with the commission last week. IPI was given up to Nov. 15, 2021 to pay its 2021 regulatory fee.
The commission reported that the $3 million regulatory fund collected for 2019 has ran out. The $20,214 is what’s left from the $106,500 “other regulatory fees” from fiscal year 2020 while the $1 was appropriated by the Legislature.
The commission also reported that it has to pay this year the $120,000 rent for its two-story office at Spring Plaza in Gualo Rai; and that it needs $70,287 for “operational expenses”; $322,234 for board compensation; and $1.4 million for salaries and benefits.
During the commission’s regular meeting last week, Yeom reported that the number of their personnel, which used to be over 50, was down to 10 upon the resignation of compliance division manager Leonard Leon on Nov. 5, 2021.
In their report, Deleon Guerrero and Yeom stated that in FY 2021, “there was minimal issuance of licenses for casino employees, key employees, service providers and vendors.”
“The reduction in casino employee license issuance in comparison to FY 2020 is largely due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the suspension of gaming operations caused by the casino licensee’s failure to pay the mandatory annual casino regulatory fees,” the commission reported.
IPI, the report said, has 49 active licenses for regular employees, 12 licenses for gaming service providers and 15 licenses for non-gaming vendors.
An IPI employee, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Variety on Friday that he and other personnel continue to perform jobs for IPI. These include securing the hotel-casino in Garapan and other IPI properties on a daily basis. The employee said they continue to receive salaries from IPI.
Also in FY 2021, the casino commission said it reviewed, processed and acted on a total of 94 IPI compliance-related requests, inquiries and concerns.
Right now, the commission said there are a total of 74 gaming tables and 268 electronic gaming machines that are sitting idle in IPI’s casino, which shut down in March 2020 with the onset of the Covid-19 global pandemic.
“Despite the increasing number of challenges, the commission steadfastly looks at the long-term horizon for potential risks to implement preventative measures and plans to mitigate these risks all the while regularly reviewing and exploring possible opportunities that could expand or better improve Saipan’s casino gaming industry,” the commission said.
