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Riegel: No actions on per diem rates
The closed-door session over Commonwealth Utilities Corp. board expenditures last week did not bring any changes to per diem rates for board members, acting CUC executive director John Riegel clarified with Saipan Tribune.
Counsel James Sirok told board members last week there were some concerns he would like to bring to the board in executive session dealing with how their per diem is spread out.
Sought for an update on actions after this discussion, Riegel said, “There have been no changes to the per diem” and the whole discussion was just about how board members wanted to know if they were getting close to exceeding their budget.
The CUC board has overspent by $17,704 its year-to-date budget of $24,925 nine months into the fiscal year, with most money going to “per diem” costs for board members.
Per diem is reported to be around $175 for every four hours for a board member.
Riegel said the discussion was over “the amount that has been spent and where the budget stands relative to what was spent.”
The CUC board also asked management to cover the cost chair Adelina Roberto took to San Francisco to sign a settlement agreement between CUC and a company.
Riegel said Roberto took the trip to California to appear in court and the cost was charged against the budget for the board staff meetings, but because it was stipulated order related, the board asked last week that the cost not be charged against that budget but against the administrative budget.
Last week, the CUC board voted to task management to come up with a recommendation to cover its current shortfall plus another three months of additional funding to take them through the end of the year covering potential per diems, honorarium, car rental, airline tickets, and per diem.
The CUC board has held eight meetings in less than two months. Their annual budget is $33,300. As of July 7, the CUC board has spent $42,679.31.
If the CUC board were to halt expenses today, they would still have exceeded by $9,379.31 their budget with three months left in the fiscal year.
The CUC board announced earlier this week a personnel committee meeting today.
