BOR questions salary hike of some NMC personnel By ALDWIN R. FAJARDO

The Board of Regents over the weekend questioned the proposed salary increases of some Northern Marianas College personnel, citing the two-year freeze in government wage hike due to depleting financial resources.

During a special meeting last week, the BOR expressed alarm over a provision in the proposed Fiscal Year 2001 NMC budget which allocates funds to accommodate increase in wages of some personnel.

This is despite an ongoing government-wide freeze in wage adjustments, as part of Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio’s call for further cut in expenditures due to the instability of the local economy.

NMC Acting President Jack M. Sablan explained, however, that wage adjustment is needed for some college personnel who have applied and were accepted for higher positions.

“Accordingly, their salary will increase from what they previously get,” Sablan pointed out, even as he vowed to work with the budget office in order to document and justify the proposed wage adjustment for some NMC employees.

NMC officials did not say how many college personnel were given wage adjustment in the FY 2001 budget, but the Board of Regents has asked the administration to explain and account for the exact number.

To address threat of payless Fridays and cut down expenditures, NMC previously planned to reorganize personnel as well as review the school program.

The BOR has underscored the need to put in place belt-tightening measures, citing decreasing allocation. For the fiscal year 2000, NMC was given a budget ceiling of only about $7 million

Since 1998, NMC has been confronted with problems of paying its more than 100 employees whose combined salaries cost the cash-strapped government some $300,000 every pay period.

For the fiscal year 2001, the Office of Management and Budget slashed the college’s funding request by $1.5 million, giving NMC a $6.8 million ceiling for general appropriations.

Capitol Hill also capped the amount that can be allocated to the college under the Nonresident Workers Fund. Only about 15-20 percent of the total fund, or at least $1.17 million had been allotted to NMC.

Allotment to the college from Public Law 10-66 will fund its vocational programs. NMC originally requested $1.57 million for the program.