In a departure from the past, Governor Lolo Moliga now wants all the authortities to run their fiscal year 2019 budget requests through him.
The semi autonomous agencies like the LBJ Hospital, the American Samoa Power Authority, the American Samoa Telecommunications Authority and the American Samoa Communuity College, which are over seen by boards of directors, design their own budgets, which are then included in the budget request that the administration sends the Fono.
But at yesterday’s cabinet meeting, the governor announced that the authorities scheduled meetings with him next week to sit down and discuss their budget requests before the final proposed budget is printed.
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The governor assured to the authorities they will get help with their FY2019 appropriations.
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As for the executive branch departments and agencies, the governor advised that if they needed more money than what the Budget Office is allowing , they must provide justification.
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Budget Director Cathy Saelua said all budget submissions have been received and her office is now in negotiation with agencies whose requests are over the set ceiling.
She expects that the Fy2019 budget book should be printed and ready for submission to the Fono by the time the legislature convenes in the first week of August.
The budget director was optimistic of how Fiscal Year 2018 will end.
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