REPRESENTATIVE Arnold I. Palacios says the fiscal year 2003 budget of $213 million is “a little bit too optimistic” especially with the unimpressive revenue collection for the first and second quarters of the current fiscal year, which is 12 percent lower than the estimated earnings.
“We need to be more realistic. I think the $213 million budget is too high in the sky. Personally, when I meet people who have worked before in processing budget resources, they say that it is very, very optimistic,” Palacios, R-Saipan, said in an interview yesterday.
The budget package, according to Palacios, includes items that have not been legislated such as the environmental beautification tax. He said the government may need to “cut a lot of fat in its operations.”
Based on the revenue collection for the first and second quarters of the current year, the government only collected $92.38 million which is 12 percent lower than the estimated earnings of $104.86 million for the period.
The bulk of the revenue usually comes from the first and second quarter collections of the year since this is the time when businessmen renew their licenses and pay their other tax obligations to the government.
