Governor Eddie Baza Calvo wants to remind Vice Speaker Cruz that money that could have gone to help the Guam Memorial Hospital Authority instead went to the Guam Solid Waste Authority federal receiver, Gershman, Brickner & Bratton.
David Manning, of GBB, sent a letter to the Vice Speaker on June 27, pointing out that GSWA will not be able to live up to its obligation of paying $12 million a year because the $18 million they collect each year is all needed to pay the cost of running Solid Waste and there is no extra money to pay the debt service they had originally agreed to do. This is after Manning told Governor Calvo at the start of the administration that GSWA would be able to achieve a $30 million savings.
In addition, GBB states in the letter to Vice Speaker Cruz that they would have to again increase the solid waste fees for residential and commercial customers to live up to their duty to pay debt owed to Guam’s taxpayers.
In a recent audit, the Office of Public Accountability noted that GSWA ended Fiscal Year 2015 with a $4.9 million surplus and a cumulative fund balance of $19.8 million.
The audit points out that in Fiscal Year 2015, GSWA again failed to pay it’s annual debt service: “If the current tipping fees are not raised, debt service and other future costs will continue to be borne by the General Fund.”
Manning said that the Government has to increase tipping fees if they want GBB to make the payments required. This is something that is within GBB’s power as the entity managing GSWA, especially knowing their obligation. In fact, GBB was paying the General Fund about $4.5 million a year until Fiscal 2014 when they stopped.
From Fiscal 2014 to Fiscal 2015, GovGuam has paid $19.4 million for GSWA’s debt service obligation.
Governor Calvo reiterated that GBB’s failure to live up to obligations it initially agreed to pay is costing money that could be used to help our island’s only public hospital.
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