Calvo, Retirement Fund discuss options

by Mindy Aguon

Guam - Governor Eddie Calvo met with members of the Government of Guam Retirement Fund today in hopes to address concerns that were raised about the Administration's Supplemental Authorization Act. The Administration is relying on a public auditor's report that noted that GovGuam overpaid the fund by $15 million. 

The Retirement Fund disputes the claim and contends offsetting any amounts owed to it and any contributions to make up for the alleged overpayment will result in GovGuam employees being restricted from leaving government service. The island's chief executive says all the parties are now looking for a compromise that has his fiscal team and the Retirement Fund reworking the numbers while still coming up with a solution to the current year's shortfall.

"As far as I'm concerned, they're all viable options," said the governor. "But we have to focus on what can bring us to a common resolution and the good news is that we all agree on that there has to be this resolution because they also want to see surety that this government moves forward and we have the proper funding to cover shortfalls."

The governor said the Retirement Fund put forward some possible options that included the re-amortization of calculated government contributions. He admits there will likely be adjustments made to Bill 184, but a resolution must be made by June 1, otherwise the shortfalls will have a direct impact, he says, on government workers and services.