Previous Story
San Nicolas frets over municipalities’ meager operational budgets
Lawmaker underscores need to explore additional funding sources to support operations of municipalities
Patrick H. San Nicolas
Rep. Patrick H. San Nicolas (R-Tinian) has underscored the need to explore additional funding sources to support the operations of the Office of the Mayor of Tinian, as well as the offices of mayors of Rota, Saipan, and Northern Islands.
During a House of Representatives session Friday in which the representatives passed the legislation to amend the current fiscal year 2023 budget, San Nicolas, who is the House minority leader, was the only member who raised a concern on the floor regarding the meager budget for operations for each municipality. He noted that these offices are rooted in the community delivering essential public services.
Under the revised budget, San Nicolas said, the municipality of Tinian will receive a meager $28,379 for its operations for the remainder of the fiscal year 2023. The lawmaker said the mayor of Rota will receive a little less at $22,326 for operations, the mayor of Saipan will get a measly $8,089, and the mayor of Northern Islands, just $3,706.
San Nicolas noted that funding for operations directly benefits the people of each municipality. “These are not personnel funds that make public programs and services possible,” he added.
San Nicolas said he wishes that he could give the $15,000 allocation from his office to assist the municipality of Tinian and Aguiguan, but the CNMI Constitution and the Planning and Budgeting Act do not allow him to do that.
“Nonetheless, I stand ready to work with the members of the House, the Senate, and the administration to find additional resources to assist all the municipalities with their operations,” he said.
With an 11% surplus in revenues collected in the first and second quarter, San Nicolas said they are hoping that the third and fourth quarter collections will be even better. He said this is important so they can shift additional resources back to the families that will be impacted by the reduced working hours.
The lawmaker said revenue collections in the third and fourth quarters are historically higher than collections in the first and second quarters.
San Nicolas and other minority members—Reps. Roy Ada (R-Saipan), Thomas John Dela Cruz Manglona (R-Saipan), and Joseph Flores (Ind-Saipan)—later voted in favor of the revised budget bill to ensure that government employees will be paid at a 72-hour pay period instead of 64 hours.
