THE Department of Finance has certified the availability of $1 million for Tinian.
The funding source is the $15 million exclusive annual license fee paid by Imperial Pacific International before it ceased operations in March 2020 with the onset of the global Covid-19 pandemic.
In an interview, Finance Secretary David DLG Atalig said, “I did certify funds based on Public Law 20-10, Section 4(b) [which requires my department to] inform the delegation of these monies.”
P.L. 20-10 also appropriated $2 million of the $15 million Saipan casino license fee for Rota and $2 million for Tinian while $11 million was allocated for Saipan.
The $1 million that Finance says is available is from the $2 million allotted for Tinian by P.L. 20-10.
Atalig certified the availability of the funds in light of Tinian Rep. Patrick San Nicolas’s introduction last week of House Local Bill 22-21 which proposes to appropriate $1 million for Tinian’s municipal government personnel, operations and community programs. The expenditure authority for the funds will be Tinian Mayor Edwin P. Aldan.
H.L.B. 22-21 prohibits reprogramming of the funds for any other purpose and requires Finance to regulate and control the expenditure of the funds “to ensure that appropriated funds are not expended contrary to the law, fiscal management policies and practice of the Commonwealth.”
David DLG Atalig
