From having to let go of staff to dipping into personal savings just to stay afloat, Guam's business community at large says that even a 1% reduction in the business privilege tax would provide significant relief.

“Businesses do not pay taxes – people pay taxes,” said Sen. Shawn Gumataotao. “All taxpayers are concerned citizens who are looking for a clear road to recovery.”

That road, according to dozens of private sector leaders who testified, begins with a rollback of the 1% BPT increase that was supposed to be temporary.

President of the Guam Chamber of Commerce, Catherine Castro, delivered a petition with nearly a thousand signatures of support, saying the private sector has shouldered this tax burden for too long.

“You need to hear their stories, you need to hear their challenges,” said Castro. “Why is it the private sector’s responsibility to hold up and have a status quo on a $1.4B budget? It is not!”

From the health care field, Dr. Hoa Nguyen shared how his clinic, serving over 40,000 patients, has never passed the BPT cost onto consumers, but with rising expenses and staffing challenges, that may have to change.

“But at a certain point, in order for us to even try to compete in the next 5 to 10 years, we might have to pass the cost to the consumer, to our patients, which we really don’t want to do,” said Dr. Nguyen. “1% means a lot to us.”

Representing the Guam Medical Association, Dr. Thomas Shieh, echoed that call for relief while questioning where all the revenue has gone under Guam's current administration.

“And they’re always coming back to the legislature begging, begging, begging, but one must not forget, the private sector does not have the privilege to come into the legislature and beg for money,” said Dr. Shieh.

“With a small rollback, I think it’s not going to resolve the healthcare crisis that this administration has created and failed to fix as promised, but I think it;s going to help a little bit,” added Dr. Shieh.

Even those supporting the bill with caution, like the President of the Guam Women’s Chamber of Commerce, Dina Rendon-Pangelinan, say the public deserves transparency on what cuts might follow.

“We feel the public and the business community should have some better understanding of what the impacts are as well as how the government plans to either cut spending or increase revenues to adjust for this significant impact,” said Rendon-Pangelinan.

Commissioner for the Consolidated Commission on Utilities, Simon Sanchez says the numbers speak for themselves.

“I completely understand the urge to fund more mandates, but please remember that taxpayers and their families also have unfunded wishes, but must live within their means. Our government should be no different,” said Sanchez.

Government officials caution that rolling back the tax could cost over $80 million in annual revenue. but for those on the ground, it’s not about numbers, it’s about survival.