Tinian mayor cries foul over ‘inequity’ in budget bill

Tinian Mayor Ramon M. Dela Cruz appealed to the island’s legislative delegation to amend the budget bill passed by the House of Representatives, describing it as “unequal” toward Tinian. He believes the measure will only worsen the island’s already precarious fiscal situation if passed into law.

In a three-page letter to delegation chair Sen. Jude Hofschneider, Dela Cruz said it is unclear in House Bill 17-215 if the municipality or any of the local departments are included in the proposed budget for utilities as stipulated in the bill’s section 601. He said it is only fair that if departments and agencies on Saipan are included, their respective offices on Rota and Tinian should also be included.

Dela Cruz also balked at the hiring restriction, saying he wants to renew the contract of an existing employee and fill vacant positions created by resignation, termination or retirement. The proposed budget prohibits the hiring of “new” employees except for critical and emergency positions and eliminates positions vacated and not filled within a 60-day period.

“It is important that when a position is vacated due to retirement, termination, or resignation, we should be able to fill the position within 90 days—instead of the 60-day stated in the bill—because those positions are simply replacements. No new positions are being created, and it is not surprising that personnel actions oftentimes take more than 60 days,” explained Dela Cruz.

He added that the decision whether or not to fill a vacant position should be left to the expenditure authority as it is a management decision based on the availability of funds.

Dela Cruz also took issue with a section that limits his flexibility to consider further work hour cuts. “Although I can understand the desire to protect workers from further reduction in wages, it may become necessary to further reduce their work hours in order to avoid a reduction in force and to preserve their jobs due to the likelihood of further revenue decline,” said the mayor.

It is also fair, he said, for municipalities to be afforded the same protection similar to the one being suggested for the Legislature, where appropriated funds may not be reduced without prior consultation.

Dela Cruz also labeled as another layer of bureaucracy a provision that requires appropriated funds to again be appropriated via a local appropriations bill.

“This is unnecessary and will further delay governmental functions in the event that a local bill is not passed in a timely manner. In addition, there seems to be an inequity in that the Saipan municipality is not treated the same way,” he said.

The bill’s section 706 also requires the municipality to use local funds to meet any shortfall, especially those due to any drastic increase in employer contributions. Dela Cruz said this is outrageous as it also does not apply to Saipan.