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Santos refutes funding availability for allocation to Rota
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Posted on Jul 22 2019
Sen. Teresita Santos (Ind-Rota) denies that the Rota Legislative Delegation has the money to appropriate for anything other than balances owed by the delegation to the central government.
Santos
According to Santos, who provided an official document from the Department of Finance, the delegation has a total of $103,570.58 to appropriate for programs for the island.
However, according to a July 15, 2019, meeting with Finance Secretary David Atalig, it appeared that the delegation owed the central government $103,410.63 at the time, upon reviewing previously passed legislations during the 20th Legislature.
“…Secretary Atalig mentioned that, although there is funding in the amount of $103,570.58 on e-gaming [money], [the delegation] owes the central government $103,410.63, which must be offset from the e-gaming account,” she told Saipan Tribune.
If the delegation settles its balance with the central government immediately, they will be left with only $159.95.
She further noted that during her meeting with Atalig, the secretary stated that the delegation must first satisfy its outstanding obligations before the end of the current fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30, 2019.
“…[Atalig] stated we should not push through any appropriations at this time until he reviews our records to determine if there are actually any funds available for appropriation. If there is, he will issue a certification of funds indicating the amount that can be appropriated,” she said.
Saipan Tribune reached out to Atalig Thursday but he was in mid-commute to the U.S. mainland and was not able to respond immediately.
However, in an interview last July 17, 2019, Atalig noted that he would have the decision on whether to issue a certification of funds for the delegation by the end of Wednesday and that the documents he submitted prior were only to confirm the monies within the delegation’s account.
“…I [would be] giving updated numbers. Those numbers were last updated in March 2019,” Atalig said, referring to Senate President Victor B. Hocog’s (R-Rota) request for an official document from the Department of Finance indicating the delegation’s total balance owed the central government.
