Rep. Vincent Aldan
THE House and Senate Public Utilities, Transportation and Communications committees on Wednesday agreed to include on the House’s next session calendar House Bill 24-3, which proposes to redistribute to the Department of Public Works and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles the 10% of driver’s license fee collections allocated for the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.
Public Law 3-61, or the Commonwealth Vehicle Code, allocates 10% of the driver’s license fee collections to CUC for streetlight maintenance. Forty-five percent goes to the BMV, and the remaining 45% to DPW for the maintenance of road shoulders.
Authored by Rep. Vincent Aldan, H.B. 24-3 would redistribute the driver’s license fee collections equally between the BMV and DPW — 50% for BMV and 50% for DPW.
According to the bill, the 10% allocation to CUC “is redundant, as CUC already receives funding through ratepayer charges for these services.”
This “dual funding mechanism” has the potential to create inefficiencies in resource allocation, the bill stated.
During a joint meeting in the House chamber on Wednesday, the members of the PUTC committees of the House and Senate agreed to include DPW and the BMV on Rota and Tinian in the allocation of funding.
DPW Secretary Ray N. Yumul told the joint committee that CUC is already billing DPW for streetlights. In 2024, for example, he said, CUC billed the department over $1 million.
According to its electric charge schedule, CUC charges DPW a monthly flat rate of $11.67 for long-arm streetlights, $8.33 for short-arm streetlights and $10.83 for LED lights.
Yet, whenever streetlights are out, CUC does not fix them until DPW makes a request, Yumul said.
“We all know that if the streetlights go out, it becomes a hazard for pedestrians and motorists. CUC fixing the lighting units does not occur until DPW makes a request. In some cases, a year or two has lapsed, but no action has been taken,” he said.
Yumul said the intent of Aldan’s bill is admirable because DPW wants to use this funding source to install additional streetlights.
Saipan Mayor Ramon Blas “RB” Camacho asked the lawmakers if they can also include the Saipan Mayor’s Office in the allocation of funding because his office also maintains road shoulders.
“So, I humbly ask to consider allocating also for [the mayor’s office].” It is for the safety of the community. Whenever we see that [something] is considered unsafe, I act on it,” the mayor said.
Variety was unable to get a comment from CUC.
