Cuts await fat pay •Law sought to temporarily reduce salaries of top earners

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio yesterday opened the possibility of cutting back the salaries of highly-paid government employees in what could be the most serious cost-cutting step the cash-strapped administration might implement to deal with the deepening financial woes.

According to the governor, the pay cut is part of a four-point proposal he will unveil to the Legislature in a meeting scheduled this week apparently aimed at seeking the backing of lawmakers.

“I think everybody should…share some of the hardships we are facing now. One best solution will be to at least temporarily reduce (the salaries) of those earning the highest level of income,” Tenorio said in an interview, in order to avert a potential layoff in the 5,000-strong government work force.

“The Legislature has to come up with a law because I cannot do it arbitrarily,” he added.

Based on a previous report of the government, doctors and political appointees remain the highest paid employees of the commonwealth. It said doctors hired by the Commonwealth Health Center receive annual salaries of $100,000 and above, followed by justices and judges whose yearly pay range from $120,000 to $130,000.

Tenorio is receiving a salary of $70,000 per year as mandated by law.

He, however, said rank and file employees will be spared from possible salary cuts. “It will not affect those who are barely making a living,” he assured.

The governor refused to give details of the proposal, which is expected to be met with strong opposition from legislators who had rejected a bill seeking to lower the salaries of elected officials in view of budgetary constraints.

A proposed measure is still pending in the Legislature which provides a $9,000 to $30,000 pay hike to the governor, lieutenant governor, legislators and mayors beginning year 2000, but with the continuous decline in revenue collections because of economic slump the bill is to get the Senate’s nod.

The government, the single biggest employer in the Northern Marianas, spends 75 percent of its annual appropriation to personnel costs alone, and a number of local officials have underscored the need to trim down the bloated bureaucracy to survive within the budget.

Last month, Tenorio revised the spending plan for the current fiscal year, chopping off $32.5 million from previous budget package of $249.26 million because of the downtrend in revenue collections. The amount will translate to a 13.4 percent reduction in the quarterly allotment advise to government agencies beginning January 1999.