The CNMI government will pay for the Public School System\u2019s $414,000 October 2006 bill from the Commonwealth Utilities Corp., PSS acting finance director Lori Grizzard said yesterday. <\/p>\n
The CNMI government paid for PSS\u2019 utilities until Oct. 1, 2006, after which, PSS began paying for their own utility usage. The October 2006 bill covers the end of August and beginning of September cycle. She said the Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 bill should also be pro-rated, which would save the school system about $200,000. <\/p>\n
The move comes after Grizzard and other PSS officials, including Education Commissioner Rita Sablan, and Tim Thornburgh, PSS Federal Programs director, met with CUC executive director Antonio Mu\u00f1a and CUC financial officials yesterday to discuss PSS\u2019 debt. <\/p>\n
PSS and CUC are reconciling another $600,000 that PSS officials believe they have been overcharged. The two agencies are expected to come to a resolution by Monday or Tuesday, Grizzard said. <\/p>\n
Mu\u00f1a has said PSS owes CUC $1.8 million in overdue payments. PSS had denied they owed any money until records obtained by the Saipan Tribune showed they owe at least $1.2 million for fiscal year 2008, not including the month of September. To avoid future discrepancies, a monthly reconciliation will take place between CUC and PSS, Mu\u00f1a said.<\/p>\n
He said PSS\u2019 payment should be received by next week. The money, along with $1.6 million that is due from the central government, will \u201chelp pay for everything,\u201d at CUC, Mu\u00f1a said, including fuel, the Aggreko generators, chlorine and CUC payroll. <\/p>\n
A $504,000 payment to Aggreko for the emergency generators is due in one week. <\/p>\n
When asked if CUC would have the funds to make the payment, Mu\u00f1a said, \u201cWe\u2019re going to pay it. We\u2019ll have the money.\u201d<\/p>\n
As long as PSS and the government make the payments, everything should be fine, he added. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about everybody coming together,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are supplying a service, and I think everyone appreciates that now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mu\u00f1a said he continues to communicate daily with Finance Secretary Eloy Inos about the government\u2019s payment.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe [Inos] knows our situation and problems with operating revenues,\u201d Mu\u00f1a said, adding that the government and PSS must make their payments just like commercial customers. <\/p>\n
Inos could not be reached for comment yesterday. <\/p>\n
Charles Reyes, press secretary for the Governor\u2019s Office, said the administration knows the government owes CUC money, but like other people, is coping with a financial crisis. Inos knows it is a priority to pay for the generators, Reyes added.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we will be able to make it. Financial matters are always a challenge,\u201d he said, adding that the government did a lot to help CUC obtain the generators. A legislative re-appropriation of money could be a possibility, Reyes said, but he did not want to go into details. <\/p>\n
Under the 12-month Aggreko contract, CUC paid an initial $1.5 million and are required to pay $504,000 28 days after the generators were turned on, which was Sept. 12. <\/p>\n
Reyes said the administration does not want to breach the contract.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur credibility is at stake,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to keep your word.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The CNMI government will pay for the Public School System\u2019s $414,000 October 2006 bill from the Commonwealth Utilities Corp., PSS acting finance director Lori Grizzard said yesterday. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126819\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}