Remengesau Approves Palau 2014 National Budget Act KOROR, Palau (Island Times, Sept. 12, 2013) – Palau President Remengesau on Tuesday signed the Fiscal Year 2014 National Budget Act, with various traditional and elected leaders witnessing the signing ceremony at Palasia Hotel. The total budget appropriation for FY 2014 is $68.432 million, of which $59.693 million is allocated to general operations, $5.173 million for Local Trust Funds including matching funds for the Infrastructure Maintenance Fund pursuant to the Compact Section 432 assistance agreement, $.822 million for the Budget Reserve Fund and $2.745 million for debt service. The Ministry of Finance provided budget highlights as follows: The sum of $35.96 million is authorized for appropriate for the Executive Branch, which is $1.66 million or 5 percent higher than what the President originally proposed but is 4 percent lower than the fiscal year 2013; The amount $150,000 or 46 percent increase is appropriated for the Council of Chiefs; The amount of $58,000 is appropriated for each of the Offices of the Minister reflecting the current salary of $50,000 rather than the reduced salary of $45,000 for Ministers; An additional amount of $150,000 is appropriated for x-ray and other equipments for the Division of Customs; An additional sum totaling of $55,000 is earmarked for the Bureau of Aging and Gender for roof repairs, enforcement of the Family Protection Ac t and support for elderly home care to families with no income; Additional sum totaling $226,000 is earmarked for the Bureau of Public Safety to hire additional 10 police officers, improvements to the jail and separate budget for the Division of Fire and Rescue; Funding for the Land Surveyors and land Registration Officers are earmarked under the Bureau of Lands and Surveys; The proposed COLA is distributed to each Executive Branch agencies rather than appropriated as a separate budget line item (included in agency budgets); Funding support for the Ngardmau Free Trade Zone is restored I the amount of $25,000; The budget appropriate for the Judiciary is increased from $2.2 million to $2.5 million representing a 14 percent increase; An additional sum of $559,000 is appropriated for the Olbiil Era Kelulau reflecting a 13 percent increase in their operating budget; Appropriation for State Block Grants is increased from $5.164 million to $5.704 million or a 10 percent increase with an average increase of about $34,000 for each state; The amount of $223,000 or 179 percent increase is appropriated to provide full operational funding for the Office of the Special Prosecutor; The amount of $1,3000,000 is authorized and appropriated as subsidy to PPUC for water and sewer services; The amount of $1,625,000 proposed as a separate line item for the purpose of paying $25.00 bi-weekly cost-of-living allowance to every employee to which the Palau Public Service System applies who earn less than $25,000 is incorporate in agency budgets rather than as a separate line item; The sum of $450,000 proposed for the purpose of paying Civil Service Pension Plan beneficiaries a $35 monthly Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) is deleted; The amount of $200,000 is appropriated for the purpose of the Compact of Free Association Section 432 Review and related activities including mobilizing Congressional support for the extension of the financial assistance agreement; The sum of $304,000 is appropriated for the purpose of paying subscription costs for citizens who are age sixty (60) years old and older and not working, or are disabled and not working pursuant to 41 PNC §952(a), as amended by RPPL No 8-14; The amount of $200,000 requested to provide funding support for the participation of Team Palau in the Micronesian Games to be held in Pohnpei, FSM in 2014, is authorized only; The sum of $600,000 is proposed for appropriation for the purposes of the Infrastructure Maintenance Fund to be used for the routine and periodic maintenance of major capital improvement projects finance by funds provided by the United States pursuant to the Compact of Free Association Section 432 Review, is authorized only; The amount of $402,000 is appropriated for the payment of period interest and principal payments pursuant to the promissory notes under the $16 million Water Sector Improvement Program (WSIP) loan agreement from the Asian Development Bank (ADB); Local revenue requirements is established to provide a consistent revenue stream for the General Fund Reserved Fund including the authorization and appropriation of an initial sum of $821,500 from the 50 percent allocation of the Green Fee for water and sewer and; The "Green Fee" law is amended to allow the use of the 50 percent allocation for improvements to the water and sewer to service the ADB WSIP Program Loan of $16 million and the unobligated balance as budget reserve funds or source of funding for State Block Grants, and the 50 percent allocation for the PAN to be capped at $2 million annually with any excess amounts to be divided equally and distributed to the states who have established APAN sites.
Posted on: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 09:30:06 +0000
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