House cautioned against housing allowance

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio has asked the House Committee on Judicial and Governmental Operations not to endorse a proposed measure eliminating the housing allowance for off-island hires in fear that it will adversely affect the delivery of basic services.

In a letter to Rep. Dino Jones, chair of the committee, the governor said members of the committee should seriously study the consequences of such proposal.

“Until the Commonwealth educates and retains sufficient numbers of local citizens to fill the positions currently requiring outside recruitment, we must continue to (provide housing) to be able to attract and retain such employees from outside,” Mr. Tenorio said.

The governor noted the difficulty in competing with the U.S. mainland due to budgetary and statutory limitations on salaries. He said the housing benefit has helped entice off-island employees provide vitally needed services for the community.

“The loss of this benefit will most certainly have an adverse effect and could endanger our ability to continue to provide these services,” the governor added.

House Bill 12-034 proposes to significantly reduce or in some cases completely eliminate all forms of government housing and subsidies.
According to Rep. Jones, the bill is very relevant at this time when essential public services and programs compete for the limited and declining government revenues.

Employees who will be most affected by the bill are nurses, medical technicians, physicians and other health care workers, as well as professionals in other fields.

Various government agencies depending on off-island employees have expressed concern on the island’s ability to retain and recruit health care and other professional staff.

Mr. Tenorio said the proposal in the bill to add the existing housing allowances into employee salaries is not possible in many cases due to the statutory salary ceiling for government workers.

The government currently provides monthly housing allowance amounting to $600 for single and $800 for married. The amount of allowance provided to government employees is consistent with the Excepted Service Conditions of Employment. So far, the only exceptions noted were the legal counsels for Rota and Tinian at $1,200 and $950, respectively, and one employee in the Executive Branch who receives $900.

In Fiscal Year 2000, breakdown of the number of department/agency employees being provided housing benefits:

• government-owned housing units: Saipan, 44.

• housing allowances/subsidies: Saipan 123; Rota 4; Tinian 2

• leased housing units: Saipan 7

The United States is the biggest source of off-island employees with a total of 127, followed by Philippines with 23 recruited staff, Canada 12, and Fiji 9.

Public Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez has warned the House Committee against the passage of the bill due to its serious effects on the delivery of health services to the community. He said the housing benefit is an incentive to attract and retain professionals who would otherwise not even consider relocating to Saipan since salaries offered here are not competitive as compared to the U.S. and Canada.

Public Auditor Leo L. LaMotte has likewise opposed the removal of the housing benefit because it will hamper the retention and recruitment of good government auditors.

Mr. LaMotte said the OPA has lost auditors in the past to better paying positions in other Asian countries, Canada and the U.S. mainland.
“We also find it harder and harder to recruit because of higher salary rates and benefits outside of the CNMI. Currently our entry level rate of $18,000 per annum (for good Certified Public Accountants with three to four years experience) can be equally matched by other Philippine employers. In addition, those employers also offer benefits like housing and car plans,” he added.

Training to be good government auditors is acquired on actual government jobs because basic education or experience in private jobs will never provide auditors any background in government operations. According to Mr. LaMotte, the time and money invested in experienced OPA staff members will be wasted if they are lost to better job opportunities elsewhere.