Sen. Ben Pangelinan, who heads the committee on finance, is asking the Office of Public Accountability for an update on the government of Guam’s deficit.

Pangelinan, in a statement, said the authorizations that were granted to the Governor’s Office by the Legislature to issue bonds for past-due tax refunds, Cost of Living Allowances and the Retirement Fund should have reduced the deficit to lower levels.

“The government of Guam has collected unprecedented amounts of cash from the taxpayers and businesses of Guam. Coupled with the over $340 million in bond proceeds and the diversion of the cash collections for the past-due refunds now paid by the bonds, there is absolutely no reason why the administration’s continual finger-pointing to the deficit has any merit,” Pangelinan said.

In his letter, Pangelinan said an update of the assessment report will allow members of the Legislature to debate and formulate necessary policy in the current budget talks.

“Furthermore, the people of Guam also deserve to truly gain an accurate picture of the government of Guam’s finances, as it is the taxpayers who bear the burden of repaying the recently borrowed longterm debt prompted by requests by the governor for General Fund cash infusions to reduce the deficit,” the senator said.

Brooks response

Meanwhile, Public Auditor Doris Flores Brooks said one of the problems OPA has in getting information so she can punch out the numbers is that the Department of Administration has not submitted quarterly reports to her office.

“I usually have to wait and see the audit to get an idea on where the deficit is and it’s usually around this time,” Brooks said, adding that for 2011, they only got a preliminary number for January but for ImageFiscal Year 2012, DOA has not produced anything.

“DOA has not built up the full accounting infrastructure that is needed to do things like a quarterly closing to get an idea of where the books are and where we stand on a quarterly basis. That’s something I continue to harp on with the Department of Administration,” Brooks stressed. “I will ask them again when I meet them because we’re getting ready to release our 2011 audit.”

Brooks added she agrees with Pangelinan that the bond proceeds should have decreased the deficit, which would have been higher had the Governor’s Office not been able to sell them.