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CPA: PFC collection only at a fifth of Q1 projections
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Posted on May 10 2005
The Commonwealth Ports Authority has received only a fifth of its supposed collections from the passenger facility charge for its first quarter of implementation.
As of March 31, 2005, airlines have remitted only $170,973 of their total PFC collections to the ports authority.
Over 190,000 passengers departed from CNMI airports since the fee was implemented on Jan. 1 until the end of March 2005. At a rate of $4.50 per passenger, PFC collections should have totaled about $855,000.
Likewise, CPA’s current PFC funds represent only 22 percent of its supposed average quarterly collections of $760,000.
CPA, which was authorized by the federal government to collect PFC from 2005 through 2016, had projected to collect $33.44 million over the 11-year period.
According to CPA accounting manager Frances Mafnas, the authority receives PFC collections only as they are remitted by the carriers. “We do not bill them. But all the airlines are subject to audit,” she said.
CPA data showed that $169,692 or 99 percent of the PFC revenues were collected from passengers departing from the Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport.
The remaining 1 percent came from Rota and Tinian passengers, with collections of $904 and $270 respectively.
FAA has authorized CPA to collect up to $29.92 million in PFC revenues from Saipan airport passengers from 2005 through 2016. The approved collection amounts for Rota and Tinian airports are $1.80 million and $1.72 million respectively.
The passenger facility charge is similar to terminal/departure fees that are being collected in most airports abroad. It applies to both international and inter-island flights departing from any CNMI airport.
Airline companies collect the fee through sold airline tickets.
PFC revenues would provide the 10-percent matching fund required of CPA for its airport improvement projects under the FAA and the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Funds that would be generated through the passenger facility charge would also help CPA service debts it had incurred for previous airport improvement projects.
