WEEKLY ADDRESS
Good morning everyone! This week, Governor Calvo thanks all of GovGuam employees who contributed to the $13.4 million surplus achieved in Fiscal Year 2016.
WATCH/LISTEN: Here’s the link to the video on YouTube
READ: The transcript of the address follows.
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$13.4M surplus is a result of teamwork
Hafa Adai everyone! I want to say un dangkalu na si Yu’us ma’ase to all of my coworkers in GovGuam who worked hard, who tightened their belts, and helped us to realize a $13.4 million surplus for Fiscal Year 2016.
This is the third year that our administration has achieved a surplus.
There are those people, like Speaker BJ Cruz and Sen. Mike San Nicolas, who would take away from this success. The truth, however, is noted in the audit report prepared by Deloitte & Touche: The FY2016 demonstrated the prudent fiscal management of the government’s resources to achieve a balanced budget and address the deficit.
Our administration, working with some of the senators at the Legislature, have achieved so much — despite the naysayers and detractors who oppose every solution we have brought to the table all for the sake of party politics.
We have brought GovGuam from a place where we owed our people 4 to 5 years of tax refunds, and we faced a total deficit of more than $330 million. This is the third year we have achieved a surplus and we are reducing the cumulative deficit. We are paying tax refunds and we haven’t had a payless payday. We have some bumpy roads that we are still working through with the H2B labor shortage. But overall, our economy has grown and we will work even harder to keep our economy going in the right direction.
I welcome everyone to work with us, and again, Ray and I thank all of the GovGuam employees who work so much, day in and day out to move this island in the right direction.
God bless you all and God bless our beautiful island of Guam.
