THE Tinian leadership believes that contractors of military projects on the island are not exempt from the developer tax, Mayor Edwin P. Aldan said.
In his letter to the governor’s special assistant for military affairs, Edward Camacho, the Tinian mayor said Public Law 8-23, or the Developer Infrastructure Tax Act of 1993, imposes a 2% tax on construction activities to mitigate the impact of these projects on existing infrastructure.
Although a section of the law codified as 4 CMC Section 1105 (a) exempts the United States government from the tax, Aldan said contractors doing U.S. military construction projects are not exempt from paying the developer infrastructure tax.
“Therefore, it is the position of the Tinian Leadership that the 2% Developer Tax should be assessed on the private contractors of all Department of Defense projects on Tinian to include the Divert Airfield Project,” the mayor said.
He added that he has also expressed this position to Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, Department of Public Works Secretary Ray N. Yumul, and Finance Secretary Tracy B. Norita, and “we are requesting your assistance to provide the construction contracts and project information for all Tinian DOD projects to the Secretary of DPW so he can make the necessary tax assessment.”
Aldan earlier asked Yumul to look into the costs of construction activities on Tinian so Finance can enforce the developer infrastructure tax, which, he said, is a “significant source of revenue that our municipality must capitalize on to address pressing infrastructure needs.”
