72-hour work schedule reinstated at Saipan municipality

Many government employees may be working just 64 hours every two weeks due to austerity measures but employees of the Saipan municipality have been on a 72-hour work schedule since April, largely due to lapsed funds that are being used to cover personnel costs.

Saipan Mayor Donald Flores said he decided to reinstate the72-hour work schedule, effective April 1, 2011, after re-evaluating the municipality’s finances for the entire fiscal year.

Flores said that his fiscal and budget officer, Teri Camacho, discovered the lapsed funds and the municipality decided to use the money to cover its personnel’s salary, in addition to potential savings from internal cost-cutting measures in the municipality’s operation.

The mayor’s office currently has 38 employees. Flores claims that this is much lower compared to his predecessor, Juan Tudela, who had 64.

To reinstate the 72-hour work schedule, Flores said his office did not fill six positions under the approved 44 FTEs for fiscal year 2011.

He said personnel overtime was also eliminated, while a conservation plan is being strictly enforced for both utilities and supplies.

The Saipan municipality was budgeted for $875,000 for personnel cost and $125,000 for “all others” at the start of the fiscal year in October 2010. On April 1, the budget was cut by 7.5 percent—or a reduction of about $90,000.

Despite the budget cut, Flores said they managed to reinstate the 72-hour work schedule for their employees by cutting other areas in their operation and identifying lapsed funds.

Majority of government employees have been subjected to 20 percent salary cuts since the beginning of this fiscal year due to declining revenues and collection. The cuts are being made through “austerity Fridays,” when government offices shut down non-essential operations every other Friday.

Flores said he has already appealed to the Executive Branch and the Legislature to spare the municipality from further cuts in the next fiscal year and for it to retain its current budget of over $900,000 for the 12-month period. That amount, he said, is enough for the municipality to retain its programs and services.

He and Camacho expect no funding shortfall for the municipality until end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.

Florez disclosed that under the proposed budget for 2012, his office may only get about $700,000 for personnel and operation. If that happens, Flores said he would need to suspend some community programs. He said his office cannot afford to reduce its already small workforce at this time.

“With the proposed budget, it would mean lesser attention to community concerns,” he told Saipan Tribune.

According to Flores, agencies that do not directly involve community service should bear the brunt of any further cuts, not the mayor’s office.