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‘Palacios’ budget overstates revenues by $9.1M’
DeLeon Guerrero to Norita: Show bank reconciliation report to validate $24M ARPA cash
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Posted on Jul 20 2023
The concurrent resolution that the Senate is now reviewing after its recent passage in House of Representatives shows an embedded $9.1 million in Gov. Arnold I. Palacios’ fiscal year 2024 budget submission that essentially overstates the projected revenues for fiscal year 2024.
That’s according to Senate president Edith E. DeLeon Guerrero (D-Saipan), who also stated that her office requested Department of Finance Secretary Tracy B. Norita last Tuesday to provide a bank reconciliation report that will help validate that there is $24 million American Rescue Plan Act cash in the bank that Norita stated at the hearing for the Department of Finance budget for 2024.
“This particular matter of concern is an ongoing discussion,” said DeLeon Guerrero Tuesday in response to Saipan Tribune’s request for comments about the administration’s proposal to increase the Business Gross Revenue Tax in fiscal year 2024 to raise $9.1 million.
DeLeon Guerrero informed Norita and Legislative Bureau fiscal analyst Dave Demapan that her request for a bank reconciliation report will help senators address the legislative actions being considered regarding the fiscal year 2024 budget amount.
Sen. Celina R. Babauta (D-Saipan), on the other hand, said Tuesday that they need to amend the concurrent resolution to reflect a budget ceiling without the $9.1 million, unless they introduce a revenue bill to actually collect that amount.
Norita told the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget hearing last Friday that Palacios’ proposed budget for the government’s operations includes a proposal to increase BGRT beginning in the second quarter of fiscal year 2024 for an additional estimated revenue of $9.1 million.
