Tax credit eyed for pro education businesses

Northern Marianas College Adult Basic Education Director Fe Y. Calixterio has asked government leaders to look into the possibility of extending education tax incentives to business owners who encourage their nonresident employees to pursue basic education at CNMI’s lone college.

According to Ms. Calixterio, tax credits should be provided for employers who allow and support their workers’ plight to advance their literacy skills.

Due to unexpected demand, NMC’s ABE department has started accepting contract workers to enroll under its English as Second Language program for non-English speaking individuals.

“Many contract workers have come to us, asking for assistance, saying that they want to learn English,” said the ABE Director.

Ms. Calixterio expressed concerns that many non-resident workers, especially Chinese nationals, arrive on American soil lacking the ability to speak a word of English.

“They are having a lot of problems because of this. A lot of times we read in the papers that somebody was run over by a truck and I think this is because they cannot read the road and traffic signs,” she said.

ABE ,which is a free program for U.S. citizens and island residents, has extended its services to nonresident workers with corresponding fees.

According to Ms. Calixterio, the program unfortunately has no budget reserved for extra ESL classes designed for non-permanent residents.

“One way to ease the burden off businesses is through the provision of tax incentives to those employers of contract workers, so they can allow employees to take at least basic educational activities at our public institution,” she added.

Leaders have extended NMC their support for the initiative, saying the move would boost employees’ productivity through added knowledge and skills acquired in school.

Lt. Governor Jesus R. Sablan has unveiled plans to initiate a tax credit system to private businesses that would serve as a reward for sending their workers to a learning institution.

Meanwhile, the college has moved to revitalize its revenue-generating initiatives in efforts to inject more funds into its educational programs and projects through a law that provides tax credits for contributions made to educational institutions.

College officials are urging individuals and business entities to take full advantage of this legislation, which gives a maximum tax credit of $5,000 for individuals or businesses who donate to educational institutions in the CNMI.

The measure provides incentives to individuals and business entities who contribute to qualified institutions and receives nonrefundable credit on their primary local taxes.

In academic year 1999-2000, the college was recipient to more than $43,000 donations from over 70 companies and individuals, according to an NMC annual progress report on the strategic master plan implementation and assessment of institutional effectiveness.