Commonwealth Ports Authority board’s financial affairs committee chair, Dolores Kiyoshi, presents her report during a meeting on Friday.
THE $37 million in American Rescue Plan Act and Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funds that the Commonwealth Ports Authority received three years ago from the federal government for Covid-19 related expenses “will be completely zero” by September 2024, CPA board’s financial affairs committee chair Dolores Kiyoshi said.
In her report on Friday, Kiyoshi provided the board with a list of CPA’s ARPA funded expenditures. “Unfortunately,” she said, “we are not getting any more ARPA funds for the next fiscal year, so we are very cognitive on the spending that is not necessary.”
In October last year, the previous board reported that CPA had drawn down over $34.7 million of the $37 million in ARPA monies awarded to CPA.
Kiyoshi’s report indicated that CPA still had $234,704 in ARPA and CARES Act funds as of July 18, 2024. This means that CPA had $2.3 million in ARPA and CARES Act funds when the new board came in.
Kiyoshi said CPA anticipates the full drawdown of these funds for Tinian and Rota by July and September 2024, respectively.
CPA has drawn down $6,277,300 in ARPA monies for CPA’s operations on Saipan. It has drawn down $1,162,068 for Tinian and $884,604 for Rota. Tinian still has $41,259 left while Rota has $171,445.
As for the CARES Act funding, CPA had drawn down the full $22.7 million, along with the over $2 million in Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations, during the administration of former Gov. Ralph DLG Torres. Only $9,000 for Pagan remains “untouched.”
Without ARPA funds in the next fiscal year, CPA Chair Jose C. Ayuyu told the board, “We will have to look after ourselves.”
