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Tinian mayor urges restored municipal operating funds, hotel tax allocations and assessment of developer tax on DOD projects
Summary
Tinian Mayor Edwin Piaudon told the House Ways and Means committee the mayor’s office needs larger operating and emergency funds, that hotel-occupancy allocations for municipalities should not be suspended in FY-26, and that the developer’s tax should be assessed on Department of Defense projects and contractors.
Tinian Mayor Edwin Piaudon told the House Standing Committee on Ways and Means that the municipality needs increased operating and emergency funding and that certain suspended local revenue streams should be restored.
“First and foremost, I respectfully request that the legislature provide sufficient operating funding…for the mayor’s office and all government agencies,” Mayor Edwin Piaudon said during the FY‑2026 budget hearing in the Tinian Courthouse. He told members his office manages a wide range of services with 141 positions on the payroll and supports municipal operations that include parks, the library, scholarships and emergency preparedness.
The mayor told the committee the municipality has received only $153,000 in hotel‑occupancy allocations between December 2023 and June 2025 and asked legislators not to suspend the hotel‑occupancy tax allocation for Tinian in the FY‑26 budget. “The upcoming ’26 budget…should, at the minimum, allocate $200,000 per municipality,” he said. He said those funds are “critical for promoting tourism, supporting annual festivals, and maintaining contracts integral to sustaining our local economy.”
Piaudon also urged restoration of revolving funds that have been suspended, naming eGaming and what he called the developer’s tax and asked that those funds not be withheld. He asked the committee and relevant agencies to “remove all suspended revolving funds allocated to the municipalities such as those related to e‑gaming and the veil tax.” (Transcript uses the phrase “veil tax.”)
On the developer’s tax, the mayor asked the legislature and executive agencies to direct the Department of Finance and the Department of Public Works (DPW) to assess the tax on DOD‑related projects and contractors. He cited Public Law 8‑23 in explaining the tax’s applicability and said he had “consulted with [the] attorney general who confirmed there are no legal obstacles” to assessment; he asked agencies to act “swiftly to establish this revenue stream.”
The mayor also requested set‑aside emergency funds so the municipality can procure critical supplies and services without delay. He asked the committee to consider Senate Bill 23‑08, which he said would transfer expenditure authority over a solid‑waste management fund from the Secretary of Public Works to the mayor’s office; he said the change would improve local responses as DOD infrastructure projects expand.
The hearing included clarifying exchanges with OMB and the secretary of finance about how municipal allocations and revolving funds are recorded and accessed. Vicky Villegomis of the Office of Management and Budget explained OMB adjusts benefit projections when employees’ benefit elections change between municipal submission and the governor’s proposal.
The committee did not take a formal vote on legislation during the hearing. The mayor concluded by stressing the scale of upcoming infrastructure and DOD activity and saying Tinian must be funded and staffed to handle growth.
Looking ahead, the mayor said he is available to answer follow‑up questions and to work with the committee on legislative or administrative changes to funding and tax assessment.
