$1.2M OK’d for salaries of Tinian municipal employees

The House of Representatives has passed a measure that would re-appropriate $1.2 million that was originally intended to fund five projects on Tinian to pay the salaries of municipal employees.

Rep. Antonio SN Borja (R-Tinian)’s House Bill 21-37 would amend a section of Public Law 20-62 to divert the money from the Tinian projects to pay the salaries of employees of the Tinian and Aguiguan Municipality.

After a lengthy—almost two-hour long—discussion, H.B. 21-37 now heads to the Senate for further action. It garnered a 14-1 vote from all 15 members present when the bill was being discussed on the House floor.

Rep. Tina Sablan (Ind-Saipan) was the lone House member to vote “no” to the passage of the bill due to some unanswered questions, not only about the bill but the financial state of the CNMI.

Tinian Mayor Edwin P. Aldan and former Tinian mayor Joey Patrick San Nicolas were present at the session and answered questions.

Aldan said the entire CNMI faces grave financial challenge after Super Typhoon Yutu, which is why he implemented belt-tightening measures at the start of his administration.

“I delayed the employment start date of 90 [Tinian] Mayor’s Office employees by one month to prepare for the budget cuts that were expected as a result of [Super] Typhoon Yutu,” he said. “Although, it is our priority to maintain full payroll for our current municipal employees, we are prepared to implement additional austerity measures if necessary.”

He pointed out that the Tinian leadership’s decision to appropriate funds for municipal employees is not a new issue and, in fact, funding for the employees for the duration of fiscal year 2019 was appropriated in Tinian Local Law 20-18 (signed Dec. 31, 2018).

That local law appropriated $1 million for Tinian, with $675,000 appropriated for the salaries of municipal personnel. The Department, of Finance however, informed Tinian leaders that the money can’t be transferred to the Municipal Treasury without amending P.L. 20-16 and without funds, there won’t be money to pay the nearly 60 employees.

The employees are directly under the Tinian Mayor’s Office, the Municipal Treasury, and the Tinian Casino Gaming Control Commission. Tinian’s funds to pay the salaries of the employees would last only up to the May 10 payroll.

This is why Aldan is asking the Legislature to make an exemption. “Although I am aware that appropriation bills usually detail spending line items, I would like to request that the members of the House allow for maximum flexibility in the bill to provide me the opportunity to use my discretion to prioritize the needs of my municipality.”

“Due to the urgency of our funding situation, I am asking the House members to expeditiously pass this bill to avoid my having to furlough any of my local employees,” he added.

The $1.2 million allocated for Tinian in P.L. 20-62 was originally intended to fund a road project, personnel, and procurement of vehicles to three agencies in the municipality.

Another $60,000 is reserved for the Office of Aging under the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs Tinian to purchase one van, while the Division of Building Safety from the Department of Public Works and the Finance Department-Tinian was allocated $25,000 each to procure vehicles.