Tinian mayor opposes cut on retirees’ benefits

Tinian and Aguingan Mayor Ramon Dela Cruz expressed his opposition to the proposed reduction in retirees’ benefits, saying the move will create further chaos on Retirement Fund members who are already suffering.

For the mayor, it is better to take away the benefits for spouses and adopted children to help address the financial crisis of the pension agency.

Since the beginning, he described the retirement program as “super generous” in providing benefits resulting to its current dilemma.

Besides providing benefits to adopted children and spouses, the mayor said the Fund could also take aggressive collection efforts on people who owe the Fund such as borrowers of member home loan program, one of the local investments of the pension agency which reportedly has huge receivables from borrowers.

Document requested from the Fund indicated that there are 32 out of the 104 loans that are delinquent. Fourteen accounts from the delinquency list are classified as bad or doubtful loans by the pension agency. The Fund recorded a total of $5.2 million in 104 principal accounts and delinquency is estimated at $2 million.

Dela Cruz added that most important of all, the central government has to pay its share.

“The government has to find the money to pay its share. If the government continues to hold back their contribution, it’s never going to work out,” he told Saipan Tribune Saturday, adding that the municipality of Tinian, despite its own fiscal challenges, is faithfully paying its up-to-date share to the Fund. However, he admitted that the municipality is still paying the 37 percent actuarial rate and not the 60 percent imposed by the Fund beginning this fiscal year.

Based on the unaudited report of Fund comptroller Pablito Amog, the combined unpaid employer contributions as of Jan. 31, 2012 amounted to $224.645 million of which $182.2 million is owed by the central government and $42.4 million is owed by the autonomous agencies.

Records from the Fund indicate that the Public School System tops the list with $27.8 million in unpaid contributions. Also on the list are Northern Marianas College with $6.7 million in debt; Commonwealth Utilities Corp. with $4.2 million; Tinian Municipal Treasury with $1.6 million; Marianas Visitors Authority which incurred $808,737; and Commonwealth Health Center with $810,089, among others.

According to the Fund, these agencies incurred this additional liability for not implementing the actuarially determined rate of 60 percent in the remittance of their employer contribution.