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Administration submits $144M budget for FY 2022
The administration, through the Office of Management and Budget, submitted yesterday to the Legislature a $144-million budget plan for fiscal year 2022.
Subtracting the government’s payments to the Settlement Fund, bonds, and other obligations, that’s roughly around $100 million that will be left for the general fund, according to Finance Secretary David DLG Atalig at a radio news briefing yesterday.
“We don’t expect a big jump in our numbers and so therefore we continue the same level of Public Law 21-35,” he said, referring to the budget law for fiscal year 2021 that allocates a little over $101 million for government operations.
The budget package includes allocations from the American Rescue Plan and outlines how the money will be used to bring back all furloughed employees and cancel the austerity program that the administration has had in place in the last couple years.
“For the 2022 budget it’s pretty much the same level for general revenues. But keep in mind we’re still in the pandemic,” he said.
Atalig noted that the support from the federal government through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, stimulus payments, and the American Rescue Plan is helping out the territory.
As for locally generated revenues, “we expect the revenues to be the same [because] our tourism industry is not back yet,” he said.
Atalig said this is more or less just the local economy, local residents, and returning residents contributing to the economy.
“I do expect that the Legislature will have their opinions on where and how funds should be allocated but that’s still up for their review of the budget,” he said.
The Legislature has until Sept. 30 to pass this budget for the new fiscal year to prevent any government shutdown.
