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Tinian mayor asks Legislature for more operating funds, urges developers tax assessment on DOD projects
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Summary
Mayor Edwin Piaudon told the House Ways and Means committee that the Mayors Office needs increased operating funds, restoration of suspended revolving funds, and a clearer allocation of hotel-occupancy and other shared revenues to sustain municipal services amid the islands military buildup.
Tinian Mayor Edwin Piaudon told the House Standing Committee on Ways and Means on the island that his office needs additional operating funding and authority to maintain essential public services as the DOD-driven build-up increases demands on municipal operations.
Piaudon said the Mayors Office employs 141 people and manages services including the library, youth center, ID division, parks, municipal scholarships, the slaughterhouse, the municipal treasury, emergency preparedness, and grant administration. "These funds are vital so that we can sustain, at a minimum, the basic public services that our community depends on daily," Piaudon said.
Why it matters: Council members pressed for specifics because several line items in the mayors request differ from the governors proposal. Committee members flagged a $59,067 variance in fringe-benefits funding for mayors office personnel and a shortfall in requested utilities funding.
Key requests and details - Operating funding: Piaudon asked the Legislature to provide sufficient operating funding for the Mayors Office and municipal agencies. He said inadequate funding jeopardizes public-safety and utility services. - Fringe-benefits variance: Committee questioning established that the administrations $59,067 variance largely reflects OMB adjustments made after municipalities submit budgets and employees later change participation in insurance and retirement options. Alan Perez, the mayors staffer, said his office submitted 141 FTEs but that current funded FTEs in OMBs package appear as 130, with 11 positions not funded. - Utilities: The mayor requested $384,000 for utilities; the governors proposal funds $250,000. OMB said the governors utility calculation prioritized accounts that are on prepaid schedules and used the municipalitys package and actual enrollments to compute the governors figure. - Hotel-occupancy and HUD-linked funds: Piaudon urged the committee not to suspend hotel-occupancy allocations for Tinian in FY2026. He referenced Public Law 20-17 in saying municipalities are to receive specified HUD-linked allocations and said Tinian received $153,000 from December 2023 to June 2025, which he characterized as insufficient. - Suspended revolving funds: Piaudon asked that suspended municipal revolving funds (including e-gaming and developers tax revenues) be restored. He identified an active tobacco-settlement account (about $54,000 annually under budget law) and a CDA bond-interest account with an unclear balance; staff estimated about $16,000 available after Munis reporting irregularities. - Developers tax on DOD projects: The mayor urged the Department of Finance and DPW to assess developers tax on DOD-related projects. He cited Public Law 8-23s text on exemptions and said the municipal office has asked finance and DPW to assess these projects; he said the attorney general indicated no legal obstacle to assessing contractors. - Emergency funds and Senate Bill 23-08: Piaudon requested a standing allocation for emergency procurements. He also urged support for Senate Bill 23-08, which he said would transfer expenditure authority over the solid-waste management fund from the secretary of DPW/BPW to the municipal mayor to improve local response and compliance with EPA/ECQ requirements.
Staffing and MOUs Committee members asked how many MOU/MOA staff the mayors office funds and how those positions are paid. Piaudon said the mayors office currently funds MOU staff assigned to other departments and autonomous agencies under memoranda of understanding; those MOUs are paid from the mayors operating allotment. He also said some FTEs are dollar-funded but will not be filled without a funding source.
Repair and maintenance, rentals and vehicles Piaudon said the mayors repair-and-maintenance request ($24,000 in his submission) covers vehicle parts, building and grounds maintenance, and emergency repairs islandwide. Committee members asked the office to provide a line-item narrative for the repair-and-maintenance request. The mayor and his staff confirmed the office collects and maintains several older vehicles and sometimes cannibalizes parts from other agencies.
What the administration and OMB said OMB staff explained differences between the mayors submission and the governors proposal: OMB adjusts fringe-benefit line items based on actual employee elections in the payroll system after municipalities submit initial budgets. Secretary of Finance and OMB representatives were present and fielded questions about specific accounts and arrears.
Next steps and committee follow-up Members asked the mayor and OMB to provide clearer account balances for the CDA bond-interest and tobacco-settlement accounts and to list the total number of MOU/MOA positions. OMB agreed to verify the fringe-benefits allocation and respond to the committee.
The committee did not take a formal vote on the mayors requests during the hearing; members said they will consider the mayors testimony as they review the FY2026 executive budget proposal.
