3 lawyers hired to pursue Fund’s $1.9M collectible

The Retirement Fund board of trustees has approved the hiring of three private lawyers from different law firms to pursue the Fund’s $1.9 million collection from CNMI autonomous agencies.

Fund board chair Juan T. Guerrero disclosed this yesterday, saying that the lawyers’ specific services are outlined in a “collective contract.”

Guerrero said the three lawyers were hired on a per hour rate, as stipulated in the collective contract. Two of these lawyers are William Fitzgerald and Mark Hanson.

“They are being paid based on performance,” he added.

It was earlier disclosed that seven autonomous agencies are behind in their employment contributions, with outstanding collectibles projected at $1.9 million by the end of the fiscal year.

Guerrero admitted the difficulty being experienced by the Fund’s collectors in pursuing these agencies.

“We have a very high outstanding receivable from these independent agencies and we need to work seriously and run after them,” he told Saipan Tribune.

The chairman said the Fund’s lawyers are currently focusing on the ongoing lawsuit against the central government, prompting the board to hire private firms to pursue the collection.

“Their job will focus on the independent agencies because collection in those departments is a little bit different from collecting on the central government. The Fund needs to go and work with every executive director and board of agencies,” he said.

According to Fund records, the Public School System tops its debtor list among autonomous agencies. The following are the amounts owed the Fund by respective agencies:

-Northern Marianas College, $4.7 million;

-Commonwealth Utilities Corp., $1.7 million;

-Tinian Municipal Treasury, $1.5 million;

-Marianas Visitors Authority, $367,000;

-Commonwealth Ports Authority, $479,000; and

-Department of Public Lands, $101,000.

Although contributions are added to the central government’s account, independent agencies file their contributions separately, Guerrero said.

“They are not remitting their contributions…and it can’t work that way. We need to work with the respective boards and with the present workload of our lawyers, we can’t do that ourselves,” he said.

He admitted that despite the numerous correspondences issued to delinquent independent agencies, no specific actions from them have been recorded to resolve the issue.

The Fund has disallowed members from retiring if they are delinquent in their contribution payments.

The PSS, during recent meetings, had discussed how its debt to the Fund will be addressed. The $10.3 million projected amount it owes the Fund is still “unfunded liability” on its record.

CPA executive director Efrain F. Camacho, in a recent letter to the Fund, asked for more consideration.

“While CPA understands that your fiduciary responsibilities require evidence of collection activity, we would also hope that you understand CPA’s current, troubled financial condition,” Camacho told Fund administrator Mark Aguon last month.

However, he assured that CPA has always held the position that any such amounts would be the first that would be paid to the Fund for its federally-funded personnel.