With a $10.5 million cut or 9.7 percent of the budget resources for fiscal year 2011, Inos said “we are not living within our means.”
“We have to reduce the appropriation so we can spend within our means,” he said.
Variety learned that two weeks ago, senators met with Department of Finance officials to see for themselves how the budget numbers had changed in light of the reduction in revenue.
Inos said he knows the Senate has been provided all the information it needs pertaining to the cuts so the administration hopes that the Legislature will finally concur with the move to reduce the FY 2011 budget.
Press Secretary Angel A. Demapan, in a separate interview said the administration, has yet to receive the legislative concurrence.
The House of Representatives, he added, has recently indicated it will concur but “we have yet to hear from the Senate.”
In the meantime, Demapan added, Finance had to implement the FY 2011 budget reduction starting on April 1, the same day Gov. Benigno R. Fitial submitted to the Legislature his FY 2012 budget proposal which was based on the projected revenue of $120 million.
This is expected to go down further by July, Inos said.
The current budget amount is $132 million which the administration said should be reduced to $122 million.
Demapan said the administration wanted to wait for the legislative concurrence “but the problem is, there is absolutely no funds to cushion this waiting period.”
Revenue, he said, is rapidly declining and Finance had to exercise its constitutional authority to reduce the revenue projection.
One should keep in mind the constitutional provision that mandates a balanced budget, Demapan said.
Finance cannot violate that constitutional mandate, he added.
Demapan also noted that when the governor signed the budget law last October, he questioned the legality of the provision that required legislative concurrence in case budget cuts needed to be done.
“If we are not given the concurrence who is going to give us the money?” Demapan asked.
