CLOSE to $30 million in casino gross revenue tax collections have been spent on the Public School System, the Fuel Adjustment Charge subsidy, the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp., the medical referral program and land compensation, Department of Finance Acting Secretary Margaret Bertha Torres said.
In addition, she said millions of dollars in gross revenue tax collected from Imperial Pacific International were provided to NMI Retirement Fund active members who had opted out of the defined benefit plan.
But the information regarding the total amount paid for this item and the account balance “is not available electronically” at Finance, Torres said.
She told Sen. Edith Deleon Guerrero to ask the NMI Settlement Fund “as they would be better able to address this request [for information] in terms of payments made and account balances.”
These include the 25% of the retirees’ pension that the CNMI government is voluntarily paying even though it is not required by the settlement agreement.
Torres said the government still has over $1 million in casino gross revenue tax collections in its coffers.
She provided this information in response to Deleon Guerrero’s Open Government Act request for the account balance from casino monies appropriated for PSS, the Fuel Adjustment Charge subsidy, CHCC, medical referrals and land compensation as provided in Public Law 18-56 as amended by P.L. 20-82.
Of the $30 million collected and appropriated pursuant to P.L. 20-82, a total of $10.2 million was paid to PSS for the following:
• $2.7 million owed to the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.
• $100,000 for school meal vendors.
• $100,000 for repair and maintenance.
• $1 million for the purchase of five school buses.
• $5.5 million for primary instruction materials.
• $150,000 for Sinapalo Elementary School on Rota.
• $150,000 for Dr. Rita Inos Jr/Sr School on Rota.
• $500,000 for Tinian public school.
Torres said over $8 million went to land compensation; $7 million for CHCC; $2 million for Fuel Adjustment Charge; and over $1.7 million for medical referrals.
Torres said the total amount in casino gross revenue taxes that was paid to the government was $29,069,237.
She said this does not include the amount provided to retirees.
Data from Finance showed that there is a $910,324 balance from the funds allocated for land compensation, and $185,930 balance from funds for medical referrals for a total of $1,096,254 fund balance in the government’s casino gross revenue tax account.
P.L. 20-82 requires that the balance of the casino gross revenue tax account “shall be recorded, maintained and accounted for to be reserved for appropriation by the Legislature.”
Senator Deleon Guerrero said she is concerned about the new Saipan local law that appropriates $2 million for Northern Marianas College and the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation.
The funding source of Saipan Local Law 22-8 is the casino license fee paid by Imperial Pacific International.
Deleon Guerrero wants to know if the funds still exist or if the new law is “deficit legislation.”
