THE Saipan and Northern Islands legislative delegation yesterday passed a measure that would increase fees for pachinko and poker machines by 200 percent.
House Local Bill 13-18 introduced by Rep. Arnold I. Palacios seeks to increase the annual local license fees for each poker and pachinko slot machine by 200 percent or from $2,000 to $6,000.
Currently, poker and pachinko machine operators pay a total of $8,000 for each machine annually, of which $6,000 goes to the general fund while the remaining $2,000 goes to Saipan local account. The increased collection would be implemented within two years immediately after the bill becomes law.
Under the measure, additional funds from the increased local account would be used for the 1991 salary adjustment compensation that would be deposited in a special reserve account administered by the Department of Finance.
The special reserve account would be used to pay all eligible current and former government employees of Saipan who have not yet received their retroactive salaries. In the case of deceased employees, their beneficiaries would be the ones eligible to receive compensation.
Those earning up to $12,000 yearly would be fully compensated. Those earning more than $12,000 will receive 50 percent of their compensation.
If the funds are not available to pay the remaining 50 percent, the balance would be paid in full after the subsequent collection.
