Rota, Tinian short by $265K for personnel

With five more months to go before the end of the fiscal year, the municipal governments of Rota and Tinian are now bleeding dry—a fiscal challenge that the Office of Management and Budget says will increase if no further belt-tightening measures are put in place.

As of yesterday, OMB recorded a deficit of nearly $300,000 in personnel funding for the two municipalities.

Rota, according to OMB acting director and special assistant for administration Esther S. Fleming, is now facing a $160,000 deficit in its personnel cost, while Tinian has so far incurred a shortfall of $105,000 in personnel cost.

While all government instrumentalities and departments, including municipalities, were warned of cuts due to the enactment of the $148 million budget bill, Fleming said it appears that more is needed to be done in exercising fiscal restraint to prevent local governments from going into deeper deficit spending.

Fleming said both municipalities were advised to exercise caution so they would stay within the limited funding.

Rota was appropriated $8.4 million this fiscal year, with $6.3 million allocated for personnel and $2.1 million for operations. Saipan Tribune learned that the municipality is budgeted at 99 full-time employees this fiscal year.

Fleming said Rota could use a portion of its operational fund to keep people in their jobs, at least until September.

“I can say that Rota municipality is very good in operation…and they can control spending. It’s their call now and we already advised them of these figures,” Fleming said yesterday.

For Tinian, OMB already recorded a $105,000 deficit in its personnel budget as of yesterday.

The FY 2009 appropriation for Tinian totals $8.4 million, with $7 million budgeted for personnel wages and $1.4 million for operation and all others. The municipality has 136 full-time employees.

Rota Legislative Delegation chair Rep. Victor Hocog admitted yesterday that, with the serious financial state of the local economy, appropriating supplemental funding to bridge the $160,000 personnel shortfall in the municipality is not feasible.

Hocog is counting on a portion of stimulus money that the CNMI may get from the Public School System’s ARRA as the answer to all shortfalls until end of fiscal year.

“That’s one way to take care of the problem,” Hocog said.

While waiting for this solution, Rota Mayor Joseph Inos should freeze all vacant and retired positions so he can keep all his 99 employees, he added.

The lawmaker said there are around 400 individuals employed in government and autonomous agencies on Rota.

If the measure is not enough to keep all personnel afloat, the delegation chairman said the municipality could also adjust the current working hours of 80 biweekly to 64 hours—if there’s a great need to do it.

“The objective is to prevent any termination and layoff among Rota personnel,” Hocog added.

Meantime, the Tinian Legislative Delegation, through chairman Sen. Joseph Mendiola, would like to first assess and study all viable options that could help address the budget shortfall of the island’s municipality.

He said yesterday that reduced work hours for employees is also among the possibilities.

Prior to implementing austerity measures that would directly affect employees, Mendiola said the delegation would first look into tapping the operational budget to augment the shortfall in personnel funds.

The senator said that freeze hiring or furlough may be good options but he is iffy about fully supporting the idea, considering the essential departments and agencies like the clinic.

Tinian had initiated internal austerity measures since the previous year. Besides reducing its utility consumption, Tinian Mayor Jose San Nicolas had also enforced work-hour reductions several times in the past.