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MVA urged to disclose trust fund status
The Marianas Visitors Authority is being asked to provide a status update on its trust fund use and expenditures for each of the senatorial districts in the Commonwealth.
Rep. Joseph Lee Pan Guerrero (R-Saipan) has drafted a letter addressed to MVA managing director Perry Tenorio and the MVA board calling for a meeting on Feb. 23, 2015, on Capital Hill.
In his letter of invitation, the lawmaker said the tourism body will also be requested to provide quarterly reports on appropriations and expenditures.
Guerrero said the meeting is more of a “meet-and-greet” but he will also ask the MVA officials on how they plan to boost tourism in the Commonwealth and to lay down their plans for the rest of the year and beyond.
Guerrero, who heads the House Committee on Commerce and Tourism, said his committee will also request the MVA to give an “overview presentation on promotional activities for [fiscal year] 2015, to include development, expansion, and improvement of existing tourist facilities, promoting indigenous arts and crafts, preservation of the cultural heritage of CNMI, beautification programs, and other related tourism activities.”
The committee will also ask for tourist arrival data, promotional expenditures, projects and other related MVA activities for fiscal years 2013 and 2014.
The MVA trust fund is provided for in Public Law 18-1, which increased the hotel occupancy tax by 5 percentage points, from 10 percent to 15 percent. The money raised from the hotel occupancy tax hike is then pooled in the MVA trust fund.
