ROTA Mayor Benjamin T. Manglona is urging lawmakers to work on legislation that would grant him unlimited reprogramming authority to ensure that all government offices on the island are funded appropriately and that resident directors are paid.
In a letter to the Legislature’s presiding officers, the mayor said the administration’s 13.5 percent reductions in the first two quarterly allotments and the 8 percent cut in the third and fourth quarters have “weakened Rota’s service delivery.”
“We need reprogramming power to address a budget shortage brought about by central government policy…. Because of the allotment slashes, the central government refuses to pay for five resident directors,” Manglona said.
He noted that there may be a need to juggle funds from one agency to another on Rota, adding that “while the rest of our offices nibble on starvation budgets, Public Safety and Public Health continue to feed on…overtime.”
The Departments of Public Health and Safety are “immune from overspending restrictions” because of the nature of their services.
But on Rota, where the population is not as big as that of Saipan’s, this immunity has resulted in excess funding for the two agencies.
Thus, he said, “while some resident departments scrape to buy a tank of gas, DPS on Rota has a $300,000 overrun.”
“We don’t mind sharing the revenue pain, (but) it seems unfair to support over-cap salaries on the executive floor at the expense of meager municipal resources,” Manglona said.
“Inappropriate policy serves as unwitting accomplice to unnecessary budget starvation,” he said.
Manglona said he should be granted unlimited reprogramming authority. Similar measures had been passed by the Legislature in the past, he said.
He added that a joint resolution to this effect was on Gov. Juan N. Babauta’s desk.
