Sens. Jesse Lujan and Thomas Fisher are requesting an oversight hearing on the technology used by the government of Guam, after an audit report described several deficiencies and millions of dollars in financial impacts to Business Privilege Tax collections from military construction projects.
“The audit ultimately asserted that the government of Guam is not collecting nearly as much revenue as it should be. I would assume that, based on the evidence, this shortfall is attributable to the technological systems currently in place today,” Lujan said in his request letter.
The letter was addressed to Vice Speaker Tina Muña Barnes, who requested the audit about two years ago and who now leads the legislative committee on innovation and development.
“As much as I know how hardworking and diligent the people at the Department of Revenue and (Taxation) are, it is impossible for them to manually keep up the pace and process these collections efficiently, and in a timely manner, without the assistance of the latest technological advancements that many governments around the world utilize today,” Lujan added in his letter.
Chirag Bhojwani, communications director for the vice speaker, said Tuesday afternoon that Barnes’ office is in contact with Lujan and Fisher and will provide a formal response with proposed dates for the hearing.
Minimum impact of $22M
The Office of Public Accountability, after conducting the audit of military construction projects, reported a total financial impact of more than $22 million to GovGuam.
The OPA examined fiscal years 2016 through 2020 and used information found on the government resource website USAspending to gather information on project awards made to contractors.
In their request letter, Lujan and Fisher noted that while the website provides a fairly detailed account of annual federal spending on Guam, it is nearly impossible to track similar information on federal spending in any corresponding GovGuam website or database.
“USAspending.gov lists information of almost all federal dollars spent on Guam. But to try (to) find and locate details of these public expenditures with the (corresponding) government of Guam entity is very difficult. This should not be the case. The government of Guam is too far behind in providing timely online information and searchable databases for the residents of Guam. Government of Guam agencies need to explain their plans to improve the situation and we in the Legislature should hold them accountable to do so,” the senators said in their letter.
By: John O’Connor
Source: The Guam Daily Post