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AT HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS BUDGET HEARING
‘Budget shortfall could force DPS to charge for funerals, sports events’
Department of Public Safety Commissioner James Deleon Guerrero told the House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday morning that DPS may be forced to charge the public with certain fees every time police force is asked to provide safety and security at funerals, sports events, religious processions at villages and similar events, if budget shortfalls are not addressed.
House Ways and Means Committee chair Rep. Tony Sablan (Ind-Saipan), left, turns to his fellow lawmakers while Office and Management Budget’s Vicky Villagomez, second from left, Department of Public Safety Commissioner James Deleon Guerrero, and DPS director of administration and general support services Kay Inos, right, look on during the House panel’s hearing on DPS’ budget Thursday on Capital Hill. (Haidee V. Eugenio)
Gov. Eloy S. Inos proposed a $7.194-million budget for DPS for fiscal year 2015, down a bit from the 2014 budget of $7.215 million.
Deleon Guerrero told the House Ways and Means Committee that DPS was given assurance by the administration that any budget shortfall would be addressed by Compact-Impact funding.
“We don’t want to charge for these [non-essential services such as funeral escorts] because these are kind of like embedded into local tradition and culture whether you like it or not but if you force us, then we’re going to have to do it because we cannot sacrifice [addressing] the real crime that’s being committed out there because we have to take care of all these things. If they fund us adequately, then we wouldn’t have to resort to that,” Deleon Guerrero told Saipan Tribune.
The DPS commissioner was referring to services now provided to the public free of charge: school events, village religious processions almost every month, funeral security, sports events traffic assistance, among other things.
The commissioner said he expects Compact-impact funding to be over half a million dollars, although there is no final figure yet. DPS looks at tapping those funds for vehicle fuel and maintenance, which has been historically underfunded.
Ways and Means Committee chair Rep. Tony Sablan (Ind-Saipan) and other members took turns asking the DPS commissioner and DPS director of administration and general support services Kay Inos about the agency’s funding needs and proposed budget.
Office of Management and Budget director Vicky Villagomez and Finance Secretary Larrisa Larson were also on hand to answer questions from the House committee.
