Governor details public sector's surplus, deficit reduction

Governor Lou Leon Guerrero called a press conference today to tout the Fiscal Year 2019 General Fund audit, rattling-off glowing numbers and detailing how her administration slashed the net government deficit in half in just her first year in office.

The audit, released Friday by the Office of Public Accountability, showed that GovGuam ended FY'19 with a surplus of $35.6 million, reducing the accumulated deficit from $83.4 million to $47.8 million. The audit also showed revenues increased by $22.4 million over the previous year, mainly due to the rise in the gross receipts tax from 4 to 5 percent.

"This accomplishment was achieved through strict fiscal discipline, strong expenditure controls, and efficient cash management. That's correct, our success in Fiscal Year '19 didn't come from just tax collections, it also came in the form of reduced spending across the board," she said.

And as she heaped praise on her administration and fiscal team, as they say that was then, and this is now. From record tourism arrivals to the worst pandemic in a century. But for the next couple of years, she expects an increase in federal and military spending to keep the economy afloat.

"I just spoke to the secretary of defense Saturday and he had informed me that there was a concerted effort in every level of the armed forces and in military defense to put more resources, more investment, into this part of the Pacific because of their whole initiative in Pacific deterrence," Leon Guerrero said.

Currently she says federal pandemic assistance is pumping in about $1.5 billion, but total reliance on Uncle Sam is not sustainable. The governor says eventually we will need to rebuild the tourism industry.

"We must show to the world, international travelers, our tourists, that Guam is a safe place.  Because if we don't show that, they're not going to want to come. So it is our task as a community to make that happen," said the governor.