Previous Story
SNILD wants SHEFA expenditure authority returned to Finance
|
Posted on Feb 08 2012
By Moneth Deposa
Reporter
Reporter
A bill returning the expenditure authority over the budget of the Saipan Higher Education Financial Assistance from the SHEFA board chairman to the Department of Finance has been filed in the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation.
Saipan Mayor Donald Flores urged delegation members, however, to revise House Local Bill 17-68-the SHEFA appropriation bill for fiscal year 2013-and allow the SHEFA chairman to continue to serve as the program’s expenditure authority.
“As the office of SHEFA is situated within the Office of Saipan Mayor, we recommend that the delegation grant the board of SHEFA expenditure authority of funds to be appropriated. The appropriation measure enacted into law for the current fiscal year gave the expenditure authority to the SHEFA board. We do not see any reason to remove the expenditure authority from the board for there has not been any concern expressed that would urge the delegation to make the secretary of Finance the expenditure authority of SHEFA program and operations and personnel funds,” said Flores in his letter to delegation chair Rep. Ramon Tebuteb (Rep-Saipan).
The SHEFA board chairman’s expenditure authority over SHEFA funds is provided in Saipan Local Law 17-9, the fiscal year 2012 appropriation law.
The mayor also asked the delegation to exempt SHEFA from work-hour cuts because SHEFA has only one full-time employee whose annual salary and benefits are funded from SHEFA operations and personnel funds.
SHEFA is allocated $100,000 a year. The salary of its administrator is not included in this amount as the position is funded by the mayor’s office annual budget.
SHEFA administrator Henry Hofschneider told Saipan Tribune yesterday that the fiscal year 2013 budget for SHEFA programs will not change. The bill proposes a $3.228 million budget, of which $3 million will go to SHEFA’s financial assistance program; $100,000 for its operation and all others; and the rest are for other projects and programs.
Since the program’s inception in 2004, the CNMI government has invested $17.7 million on SHEFA scholars.
