THE Marianas Public Land Trust is urging the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee to reduce the Department of Public Lands’ proposed budget for fiscal year 2025.
DPL is proposing to increase its budget to $5.56 million for FY 2025 from $4.96 million in the current fiscal year. The department’s source of funds is the revenue from public land leases.
In his letter last week to the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee chairman, Senate Vice President Donald Manglona, MPLT legal counsel Robert T. Torres said MPLT’s $15 million line-of-credit agreement with the Office of the Governor for federally funded capital improvement projects commits DPL to the legislative budget process. Therefore, DPL’s budget submission is no longer “for informational purposes.”
Torres said the Legislature now has the constitutional prerogative to appropriate and set DPL’s budget amount.
“The only constitutional restriction is that those public land lease funds be used only for DPL expenses and operations and no other executive branch function as doing so violates the CNMI Constitution,” the MPLT attorney said.
He is urging the Senate committee to “scrutinize” DPL’s budget submission to ensure fiscal prudence. He noted that DPL proposes to spend $5.56 million in FY 2025.
“As you know, the rest of the executive branch agencies are going to be asked to receive 40% or more less than what they need while DPL is proposing to spend all of what it has for all of what it wants. Appropriately so, the Legislature shall determine the appropriate spending plan for DPL, and MPLT urges that your committee trim unnecessary expenses, reduce personnel and limit spending,” Torres said.
The reason to cut DPL’s budget, he explained, is “we are seeing less need to manage public lands since the number of leases is [declining] and hotels are closing.”
Hyatt Regency Saipan shut down on June 30, 2024 while Mariana Resort & Spa closed in 2018.
Torres said DPL does not need to spend more at a time when there is less reason to do so.
He said MPLT recommends that if the Legislature will limit DPL’s budget to an amount within its needs, such as $4 million, there would be at least $1.5 million that can be remitted to MPLT for investment.
With interest income going to the general fund for the Legislature’s appropriation, the Senate committee can then receive more funds for earmarks and appropriation, not less, Torres said.
As such, by “tempering” DPL’s budget the Senate committee will be able to plan for income after FY 2025 for appropriation, reduce the Typhoon Yutu loan balance and have more funds for appropriation, instead of less, Torres added.
“That is the prudent exercise of fiscal policy far different from the ‘spend it all while we can’ approach, which DPL solicits from your committee,” Torres said, adding that MPLT’s approach is consistent with the section-by-section analysis of the NMI Constitution’s provisions pertaining to public land income.
Torres said DPL’s “acting without transparent accountability” ends with the Senate committee’s scrutiny and fiscal determination, which ensures the appropriate separation of powers with the executive branch respecting the Legislature’s appropriation powers inclusive of public land lease funds.
He said the MPLT trustees would reaffirm their commitment to the Legislature for the continued value and growth of MPLT’s investments in order to remit more, not less, to the government for appropriation.
With more funds from DPL and MPLT’s “progressive investment strategies, your investment in fiscal controls for DPL will continue to yield strong performance for the Legislature to appropriate funds in the coming years,” Torres said.
During a House Ways and Means Committee hearing in June, DPL Secretary Teresita Santos said approving their proposed FY 2025 budget “is imperative for the continued success of operation and integrity of the department. Your support will ensure that we can effectively manage and protect our public lands for the benefit of our [people of Northern Marianas descent] and the CNMI.”
