In a letter addressed to House Minority Leader Joseph P. Deleon Guerrero, R-Saipan, chamber president Douglas Brennan said that it is the responsibility of the CNMI government to fund the Retirement Fund, not through increased taxation, but by controlling its costs.
“Why must the working employees be forced to bail out the Retirement Fund at additional expense to them?” Brennan asked
He said the commonwealth’s economy was established through “excellent tax laws and incentives,” but Deleon Guerrero’s H.B. 17-217, which will reduce the tax rebate rate, “further erodes the very basis” for the economy’s growth.
He said H.B. 17-217 will result in the exodus of more businesses and consumers.
“Future investment and the stability of existing businesses are jeopardized,” Brennan added.
He said tax increases could be absorbed in a healthy economic environment but that time is not now.
“It is premature to suggest further tax burden on consumers, when the CNMI is still striving to reach a standard of living comparable with other areas within the United States,” Brennan said.
He said there was a time when a $100 million CNMI government budget was sufficient to fund its operations.
“There are tremendous amounts of federal government funding sources that did not exist in the CNMI 25 years ago. Why can’t the CNMI government reduce its costs to the point where additional taxation on the working people of the CNMI, and businesses, is not necessary?” he asked.
Brennan said the logical place to begin reducing government expenditures, and therefore reduce its own budget, “starts right at the 17th Northern Mariana Islands Legislature.”
