She said she has received a letter from Finance Secretary David DLG Atalig affirming that the Rota Legislative Delegation had an outstanding obligation of $564,000 to the general fund.
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In an earlier and separate interview, Sen. Paul A. Manglona said this amount included the $400,000 that the owners of MV Luta shipping company “borrowed” from the Rota delegation.
Based on Public Law 21-10, $290,000 was allotted as partial payment from Rota to the general fund.
Rep. Donald M. Manglona, for his part, introduced House Bill 21-116, which proposes to reprogram the $290,000.
But Santos said according to Finance, this amount cannot be reappropriated for any other purpose.
In his letter, Atalig said that as of June 25, the Rota Legislative Delegation still had an outstanding obligation of $331,709 to the general fund.
The senator earlier asked the Finance secretary not to reprogram any Rota public and local law funds, saying that the island has very limited local funds from poker fees, e-gaming fees and casino gross revenue taxes.
These local funds, she added, are used for inter-island medical referral payments and other related cost including medical subsistence allowances and local infrastructure projects.
