by Nick Delgado

Guam - Committee Chair on Finance Senator Ben Pangelinan has discovered that the estimates in Volume 9, Section 4.3.3 in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement that deals with estimated local government revenues appears to be flawed. Pangelinan states the rule of thumb is that GovGuam collects 10% of every new dollar invested into our economy after it multiplies through.

He adds that the general tax revenue in the more conservative constrained DEIS analysis show collections that are between 42 to 49% of estimated additional gross island product related to the buildup.

In a news release Pangelinan states, "There is something in their financial model that is causing a wide variance in the ratio, but because the methodology and actual model were not disclosed in the DEIS there is no way for us to even scrutinize the estimates." While Pangelinan agrees with that growing the economy is important, he states that GovGuam must balance economic growth and protection of the environment, culture and quality of life for island residents.

He also sent letters to several experts in the private sector, the University of Guam, GovGuam, the Government Accountability Office and the Department of Defense, asking them to provide analysis of the revenue estimates to confirm his findings.