Guam Legislature hears Department of Public Works' $22.4M FY2026 request; members press on staffing, village streets and permits

The Committee on Finance and Government Operations held a public hearing June 19 on Bill No. 44-38 COR, the governor-requested appropriations measure for fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2026, and heard the Department of Public Works (DPW) present a $22.4 million budget request for operations.

DPW Director Vince Areola told senators the request is “a slight increase of a little over $400,000 from the previous fiscal year,” and that most operational funding comes from the Territorial Educational Facilities Fund (TEF) and the Guam Highway Fund. He said federal grants and programs supplement local money for capital and program work.

Why it matters: senators pressed DPW on recurring workforce and procurement problems that directly affect road repairs, school bus service and stormwater work across the island. Lawmakers said the department will need clearer project lists and firmer timelines before the legislature considers larger appropriations.

DPW priorities and constraints DPW described core program budgets and several project lines. In the object-class summary Director Areola listed salaries and benefits at roughly $16 million and contractual services at about $3.2 million, with equipment (~$82,000) and capital outlay (~$410,000) smaller shares of the request. Areola said DPW currently manages about 47 ongoing capital improvement projects with a combined value the department gave as approximately $93.6 million, driven by a mix of federal grants, FEMA awards and local funding.

He highlighted specific projects including renovation of the Hagåtña (Hagåtña) municipal swimming pool (a multi‑million-dollar project), Paseo Stadium repairs following Typhoon Mawar, a federally funded biolab foundation in Mangilao, and a $4.2 million Guam Police Department evidence building in Jigo.

Staffing and salary competition Areola and Deputy Director Linda Banas repeatedly told the committee the department is losing technical staff—engineers,…