Govt needs $25M in Sept. to meet FY05 budget estimate

The CNMI government should have collected $25 million in revenues last September to meet its $218 million budget estimate for fiscal year 2005.

Department of Finance data showed that, as of Aug. 31, 2005, showing the first 11 months of FY 2005, the government had collected $192.1 million in General Fund revenues, which is 1.21 percent ($2.3 million) higher than $189.8 million collected during the same period last fiscal year.

Finance said that the September revenue data will not be available until next month. Figures showing whether the government incurred a deficit or not in FY 2005 will be available in December, the department said.

In terms of operating resources, the government is 4.36 percent up in August compared with the same period last year.

Total operating resources reached $205 million as of August 2005, compared with last year’s $196.5 million.

But the August figure is still $21 million short of the $226.1 million in target operating resources for FY 2005.

Total operating resources include fund transfers to the General Fund, which totaled $12.9 million as of August this year.

In terms of general appropriation—total operating expenses minus bond payment appropriations—the government posted $198.5 million as of August 2005, which is 4.26 percent higher than last year’s $188.5 million.

August’s $198.5 million is still $17.4 million short of the $213.9 million target budget for FY 2005.

Meantime, data during the first 11 months of FY 2005, showed that the government has met or exceeded its target collection from fees, services, and other revenue.

For instance, the government had estimated to collect $7.029 million from amusement machine licenses; as of Aug. 2005, it has already collected $8.4 million.

For other licenses and fees, the government aimed $2.5 million; it has collected $2.7 million.

The target for hospital charges was $14.2 million; actual collection totaled $14.8 million.

In “other revenue,” it targeted some $2 million; it has collected $3.3 million as of August this year.

In terms of total taxes, the government needed to collect $29 million more to meet its target of $187.4 million. As of August, the government only collected $158.443 million. This figure, however, is .01 percent more than last year’s $158.422 million.

As for Business Gross Revenue Taxes, the government is only $1 million away from its target of $58.7 million for FY 2005. As of end of August, the government has collected $57.5 million in BGRT, which is 7.8 percent higher than the same period last year ($53.3 million).

Total BGRT collections in FY 2004 reached $54.5 million; $50.6 million in FY 2003; and $48.5 million in FY 2002.

Weak collection of revenues in FY 2005 was recorded in personal/corporate income tax, gaming jackpot tax, and garment user fee.

The government had projected to collect $19 million from P/CIT but it has only received $7.1 million.

For the jackpot tax, the government is about 50 percent below its target collection of $4.1 million.

The government has collected $24 million in garment user fees as of August. During the same period last year, the number was up at $27 million. The government aimed to collect $30.1 million in user fee by end of FY05.