DESPITE the 18.1% drop in excise tax collections, the CNMI government’s revenue collection was 22.1% higher than projected in the third quarter of fiscal year 2022, Finance Secretary David DLG Atalig reported to the Legislature on Tuesday.
In his report to Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez and Senate President Jude U. Hofschneider, Atalig said the overall revenue collection for the third quarter amounted to $43,873,419, beating the forecast of $38,380,691 by over 14%.
In the second quarter, the CNMI government’s revenue collection was $38,597,806, exceeding by 5.9% the projection of $36,443,584.
Atalig attributed the increase in revenue in the third quarter, which covered May to July, to the increase in wage and salary tax collections as well as business gross revenue collections.
In the third quarter of FY 2022, he said the wage and salary tax collections stood at $6,876,696 or approximately 8.17% higher than the forecast; the Northern Marianas Territorial Income Tax collections of personal income amounted to $7,691,300; the corporate income tax collection was valued at $974,454, up 96.5% or nearly twice the forecast amount of $495,970; and the BGRT collections were $17,782,862, surpassing the forecast by 22.1%.
However, Atalig said, the total excise tax collections yielded $7,527,311 only, which is 18.1% less than the forecast.
In the second quarter, the excise tax was $6,471,684 which was 28.1% less than the forecast.
Atalig explained that “the American Rescue Plan Act has supported expenditures despite the widespread impact of Covid-19 in the CNMI.”
He said, “The CNMI can recover economically from federal assistance through ARPA funds and expected federal infrastructure projects. However, we anticipate the infusion of funds available would benefit small businesses and nonprofits to support local economic activity through the demand for goods and services, and in turn could help support the FY 2022 projections. In conclusion, any of these individual consumption patterns will likely have an impact on revenues garnered through the remaining quarters of this fiscal year.”
Overspending
Atalig also reported that the CNMI government’s actual expenditures in the third quarter exceeded the appropriated budget.
“The most prominent deficiency were disaster expenditures, which were not appropriated funding despite accumulating an expense of $20,798,894. The expenditure amount was in response to the CNMI’s continued effort to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
He added that the Department of Public Safety, which was appropriated $3,704,157 spent $4,958,725; the Department of Corrections, which was allotted $2,095,085, spent $2,735,593; and the Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services, which was allotted $2,832,194, spent $3,609,799.
As for the Division of Customs and Biosecurity, it was appropriated $1,447,308 and spent $2,017,173.
Atalig said, “These expenditures…in excess of budgetary allotments [are] attributed to the CNMI’s law enforcement efforts in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic.”
In the second quarter of the fiscal year, the CNMI government overspent by 9.6% due also to the Covid-19 pandemic.
