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$193.5M budget level approved
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Posted on May 30 2006
The Senate unanimously approved yesterday a $193.5 million spending limit for the next fiscal year.
The Upper House made no amendments to House Concurrent Resolution 15-1, which was adopted by the House of Representatives on May 19,2006.
H.C.R. 15-1 endorses $208.6 million as the total resources available to the Commonwealth for FY 2007. However, the resolution shows that only $193.5 million will be available for government operations due to fund transfers and certain fixed expenses.
Some $1.6 million of the proceeds of the cigarette excise tax needs to be transferred to the tobacco control fund. Another 10 percent or $2.5 million of excise taxes is due for transfer to the solid waste fund.
About $2 million will also be set aside for the Public School System’s bond repayment; $5.2 million for the government’s general obligation bond; $1.1 million for the Northern Marianas Housing Corp.; and $2.7 million for land compensation debt services.
However, the $193.5-million limit does not include the Department of Public Lands, an agency within the Executive Branch that generates its own income. DPL is given authority to spend up to $4.7 million of its revenues from public land leases. Any amount in excess of this limit should be remitted to the Marianas Public Land Trust.
With the appropriation limit identified, the Legislature will now begin discussion on how the overall budget should be distributed among government agencies.
The $193.5 million budget, proposed by the Fitial administration, represents a $5-million cut from the current fiscal year’s already reduced budget of $198.5 million.
It is also nearly $20 million less than the government’s last enacted budget of $213 million.
In submitting the budget proposal to the Legislature, Gov. Benigno R. Fitial said government offices had requested a combined budget amounting to $251.8 million. But he cut the amount because “it is imperative that we all continue to exercise great fiscal prudence.”
The new fiscal year will begin Oct. 1,2006 and end on Sept. 30, 2007.
