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AG: Proposed user fee for Grotto ‘unconstitutional’
A bill seeking to authorize the Department of Parks and Recreation to charge “user fees” for the Grotto, a popular dive spot, has been deemed unconstitutional.
House Bill 19-38, authored by Rep. Roman C. Benavente (Ind-Saipan), seeks to authorize the Parks and Recreation Division, in consultation with the Division of Fish and Wildlife, to charge visitors with the user fee. According to Benavente, locals are exempt from paying the proposed user fees of $3 to $5 because the user fee is “not a tax.”
The House of Representatives passed the bill this month.
However, a legal opinion from Attorney General Edward Manibusan said: “H.B. 19-38 is unconstitutional.”
“The Grotto and its surrounding are public land. As such, all fees generated must be remitted to the Department of Public Lands. Pursuant to the Supreme Court’s seminal decision in ‘DPL vs. Commonwealth’ 2010 MP 14, the DPL must collect all fees, rentals, and revenues from public land and then remit a certain portion of the funds each year to the Marianas Public Land Trust,” a letter from Manibusan said.
The letter further said, “Any attempt by the Legislature to divert any of the public land revenues, be it fees or lease payments, away from DPL and MPLT would be unconstitutional.”
The House Committee on Natural Resources sought the AG’s legal opinion on HB 19-38.
