Sen. Joseph M. Mendiola, Covenant-Tinian, said these sources are the ongoing construction of Laolao Bay Golf Resort and the construction of the Tinian Oceanview Resort & Casino.
“There must be some kind of additional revenue coming from [these project]s,” Mendiola said.
“We also have additional flights coming in from Narita [Japan],” he added. “Maybe [these potential funding sources] are not enough, but they’re worth the consideration.”
For fiscal year 2009, which starts on Oct. 1, Gov. Benigno R. Fitial has submitted a $158.4 million budget proposal which also calls for certain cost-cutting measures.
But a recently enacted law requires the Marianas Public Land Trust to “lend” $3.4 million to the Commonwealth Utilities Corp, and lawmakers believe this will affect the revenue projections for FY 2009.
They said the administration has to “adjust” its budget proposal.
“We all need to sit down and come to a figure that’s agreeable to everybody,” Mendiola said referring to the formulation of the FY 2009 budget.
Since 1998, the CNMI government has enacted three budget laws only.
Without a new budget, the government is allowed to operated under the spending ceiling set by the last enacted budget.
