The Department of Finance maintained that the government collected more during the first quarter of the year despite reports about the government not remitting funds to the Public School System on time.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, we collected more but if you collect more it doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019d have less expense. There are many things we have no control over,\u201d said Finance Secretary Fermin Atalig.<\/p>\n
Among the unforeseeable expenses, he said, are settlements against the government, litigation costs, medical referral costs, storm recovery efforts, and the like.<\/p>\n
As for PSS\u2019 fear about \u201cpayless paydays,\u201d Atalig said this would never happen, citing that Finance has never failed to give PSS its payroll money. He admitted that Finance has been delayed in giving PSS its funding under the All Others account but payroll money is always released.<\/p>\n
He refuted earlier claims that PSS did not receive its payroll funds for pay period 25 and 26 in December 2004.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not true. We\u2019re giving them in increments,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said he understood that Finance gave PSS some $700,000 during the first week of December, and about the same amount about the third week of December.<\/p>\n
Early this month, education officials held urgent meetings with the governor, expressing great alarm over their lack of funding. Education officials had warned of public school shutdown and possible payless paydays.<\/p>\n
When reached, education deputy commissioner for administration David Borja agreed that some funds were remitted last month but he noted that Finance merely gave the net amount.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s correct but what they gave us was the net pay, not the entire payroll. The total payroll includes the contribution for retirement, the taxes, the contribution for health so those didn\u2019t come, but only the net that goes to the person\u2019s paycheck,\u201d said Borja.<\/p>\n
Further, he said that those net pays came about a week late for each payday.<\/p>\n
Borja said the PSS\u2019 payroll each pay period totals $1.3 million.<\/p>\n
Meantime, Atalig said that it was not the first time for the government to be late in giving out funds.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were other times when the government was late for All Others but for personnel, for payroll, the treasurer makes sure with the bank that employees get their salary,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said that if checks are not funded, the government requests the bank to process payroll checks.<\/p>\n
The Finance chief noted that when PSS needed financial help with funding when it was under federal high-risk status, it turned to the local government for aid.<\/p>\n
He said that Finance had allowed PSS to shift federally paid employees to local account.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt drained local funds and we didn\u2019t say anything about that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He noted that contrary to what may have been implied, \u201cwe\u2019re not neglecting PSS or all agencies for that matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Borja, meantime, said that the high-risk grantee status was about the submission of audit reports, not necessarily about any funding mess.<\/p>\n
On the suggestion that PSS make use of its federal funds in case of local fund shortage, Borja said this will only put the system in a worse situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s worse than high-risk status. We can\u2019t use federal funds for other purposes other than what\u2019s specified in the guidelines,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Meantime, Borja said that all obligations covering pay period 25 and 26 as well as pay period 1 and 2 have been settled by recent infusion of local funds. The PSS received $1.9 million early this month and $1.3 million last week. PSS still hopes to receive additional funds before the end of the month.<\/p>\n
As of now, Borja said, PSS needs a total of $1.4 million for payroll and vendor payment.<\/p>\n
PSS operates on a $37.2 million continuing resolution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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