MINORITY bloc Sen. Edith Deleon Guerrero wants to know the status of the casino gross revenue tax or CGRT account, which includes funds reserved for the retirees’ 25% benefit.
After submitting an Open Government Act request to the Department of Finance in December 2021, Deleon Guerrero said she received a response from Office of the Secretary Financial Services Manager Vinney Atalig-Hocog on behalf of then-Acting Secretary of Finance Margaret Bertha C. Torres.
Finance said CGRT funds were transferred for use during the Covid-19 emergency, and that the account had a balance of $1,096,254, of which $30,300 went to the Guam Memorial Hospital for the medical referral program, $155,630 for general medical referrals, and $910,324 for land compensation.
Senator Deleon Guerrero then asked for a copy of the executive order associated with the CGRT transfers, as well as an accounting of what the CGRT account balance was before and after the transfers.
She likewise asked if the transfers were considered reimbursable by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and how much of such reimbursements had been received to date.
The senator also asked, among other things, about the finance department plan to replenish the CGRT account for the retirees’ 25% benefit.
Atalig-Hocog responded in late September asking for clarification, adding that the senator’s question on replenishing the CGRT account would be better answered by Secretary of Finance David DLG Atalig himself.
In her reply, the senator said she was seeking a copy of the executive order related to the transfers from the CGRT account, as well as the status of the funds available in the account before and after they were tapped for the Covid-19 disaster response.
She likewise asked for the current balance of the CGRT account to date.
On Wednesday, the senator said she had yet to receive a response from the secretary of Finance or any of his staff regarding her inquiry.
She said it would be prudent for the CNMI government to replenish the CGRT account intended to protect the retirees’ 25% benefit.
“Our financial issues are deeper, and without a forensic audit, I can comfortably say that we are barely scratching the surface of a deeper and darker financial crisis. God help us,” she added.
During the recent bicameral conference committee negotiations on the fiscal year 2023 budget bill, Secretary Atalig provided lawmakers with an official letter stating, among other things, that $13 million was available to cover the 25% retirement fund pension, “representing [Gov. Ralph DLG] Torres’ relentless commitment over and beyond the settlement-decreed 75%….”
