Members of the Senate and House of Representatives were not happy on Wednesday, September 12 after they went home without their usual bi-weekly office allowance checks.
Holding allowance checks and all payments to the Fono is the result of a decision made by the Treasury Department to control the overspending at the local Legislature.
Treasury Department officials explained that all payments for the Fono have been stopped, as they have overrun their budget by more than $150,000 although the current fiscal year does not end until September 30.
Stop payments apply to all Fono invoices, and possibly next Monday’s payroll, until enough funds can be located to help cover the expenses.
The overrun can be blamed on excess spending listed under “other expenses” which are not budgeted for, totaling $76,478. This doesn’t include the nearly $80,000 spent on repairs for the Fono Samoan Guest Fale - a good percentage of which was paid out to three senators and a faipule.
At the beginning of this month, the Fono had already expended its FY07 budget of $6,042,000.
Spending was listed at $6,175,277.17 as of last week. And with encumbrances (commitments) of $17,199.60 the total deficit so far for the Fono is approximately
$150,476.77.
Notable spending comes from the Senate which overspent its payroll budget by $14,493 and the Legislative Reference Bureau with $13,413 All expenses combined, the Senate is in the hole
$34,096 while the House of Representatives isn’t far behind with $23,509. The lower chamber has spent the most in unbudgeted “other expenses” with $27,517 Other Fono divisions like the Legislative Reference Bureau, which started off with a working budget of $823,000, has overspent by $10,087 while the Legislative Finance Office, budgeted for $797,372 in FY07, is currently in the red by $6,336.
Two budgeted areas that are in the black include the Senate Investigative Committee and the APIL account.
Treasury officials say that the only way to lift the stop is by order of Governor Togiola Tulafono who is reportedly backing up the Treasury Department’s decision. |
