THE Department of Public Lands remitted $4,451,471 to Marianas Public Land Trust this week, DPL Secretary Marianne Concepcion-Teregeyo said.
Since 2006, she said, DPL has transmitted a total of $26,000,855.39 to MPLT. Of this amount, $17,681,091 has been transferred to MPLT since 2016, under the Torres-Palacios administration.
Article XI of the CNMI Constitution requires DPL to remit public land funds to MPLT at the end of each fiscal year, except the amount necessary to meet “reasonable expenses necessary for the accomplishment of its functions.” These reasonable expenses include administrative and management expenses, land surveying, and homestead development.
According to DPL’s 2019 report, under Civil Action Case 84-119, Marianas Public Land Trust vs. Marianas Public Land Corporation, (the predecessor of DPL), reasonable expenses do not include capital expenditures or capital improvements such as constructing roads, water lines, sewers, etc. on public land designated within the homestead program.
Therefore, DPL said, it cannot use revenue collected to create infrastructure.
Concepcion-Teregeyo said the department is still finalizing its 2020 annual report.
DPL’s 2019 annual report is available at https://www.dpl.gov.mp/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Department-of-Public-Lands-Annual-Report-2019-1.pdf
But in its 2019 report, MPLT said DPL still owes millions of dollars in undistributed public land funds.
MPLT reported that a total of $48,491,986 was generated from public lands from 1983 to fiscal year 2019, but MPLT “is of the opinion that the method used to compute the annual distributions does not comply with the provisions of the Constitution and additional monies are owed.”
MPLT said “DPL has inappropriately ‘reserved’ their funds balance in order to avoid distributing the annual funds as required by the Constitution.”
MPLT likewise cited the Attorney General’s Office, which stated in April 2013 that “DPL owes MPLT all revenue generated from public lands that is not appropriated to it pursuant to its annual budget. DPL also owes MPLT an accounting to verify that the proper sums are transferred. DPL must transfer these excess funds on [a] yearly basis.”
Marianne Concepcion-Teregeyo
