DEIS perspectives: It’s a Catch-22
Tuesday, 19 January 2010 05:40
by Leevin Taitano Camacho
DEIS Perspectives
THE public hearings have come to an end and most people agree that Guam will see an increase in economic activity as a result of the buildup. Some have taken it further and suggested that the additional tax revenues GovGuam is expected to receive will improve GovGuam services and the standard of living for most of us. They reason that GovGuam will be able to fix the Guam Department of Education, Guam Memorial Hospital and other public agencies with the additional $327 million collected in taxes in 2014 and $96 million collected in 2017 and onward. This logic, however, is oversimplified because it fails to take into account any costs associated with the anticipated population explosion.
According to the draft environmental impact statement, Guam is expected to receive an increase of $327 million in 2014 and a population increase of 79,178 people. This averages out to an additional $4,130 in taxes per person. By 2017 and onward, the additional tax revenue will decrease to $96 million with an increase of 33,431 people. This averages out to $2,890 in additional taxes per person, which is lower than the current amount of taxes GovGuam collects per person. In the long term, GovGuam will receive 25 percent in additional tax revenues, but will also experience a 17 percent increase in population.
To get an idea of specific costs associated with the increase in population, one need look no further than the draft impact report which predicts that agencies such as DOE, Guam Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse other public safety agencies will have to increase their staffing by 44 percent in 2014 and 17 percent in 2017 and beyond. DOE will have to hire 420 additional teachers in 2014 to maintain the current teacher to student ratio after the influx of 6,200 students.
The response is that GovGuam will be able to pay for the increase in demand for public services with the increase in tax revenue. This begs the question as GovGuam can only tax people when they get to Guam. In contrast to GPA and GWA, which both can raise rates now to pay for improvements, DOE and other agencies rely primarily on the general fund for their budget. If GovGuam does not have enough revenue to prepare for the population boom, GovGuam will either have to take on more debt, or our public schools, hospital and other public services will be even more overburdened than they are today.
GovGuam’s financial inability to properly prepare for the population explosion is even more concerning when viewed along with the draft impact report’s explicit finding that the standard of living on Guam, or purchasing power, will most likely decrease for people on fixed incomes because of the rising costs of goods caused by the buildup. Putting two and two together, the same people who use GMH and send their children to public schools will have to endure even more overcrowding at our schools and hospital and have a lower standard of living.
The draft study predicts that Guam will see an increase in economic activity and GovGuam will see an increase in tax revenue. But the idea that GovGuam will be able to fix GovGuam agencies such as DOE and GMH or that the standard of living for most people on Guam will improve is not rooted in the text of the draft environmental impact statement.
(Leevin Taitano Camacho, a resident of Yigo, is lawyer).
Showing posts with label Standard of Living. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Standard of Living. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Sunday, November 22, 2009
EIS: 33,000 new jobs by 2014
EIS: 33,000 new jobs by 2014
By Laura Matthews • Pacific Daily News • November 23, 2009
Guam's unemployment rate will drop by more than half in 2014 as the buildup creates thousands of jobs, according to the draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed, multibillion-dollar military expansions on the island.
With more people paying income taxes, and as businesses pay more taxes and fees, the draft Environmental Impact Statement estimates that government of Guam will generate $325 million in 2014 revenue alone -- an increase of about 60 percent of its current annual budget.
In the recently published Defense Department document, which contains thousands of pages, Guam's unemployment rate is assumed to fall to 4.0 percent when Guam residents and off-islanders start taking on jobs associated with the military buildup.
The unemployment rate was last recorded in September 2007 and is estimated to be 8.3 percent, according to the document.
Guam's population is expected to soar -- with 79,178 additional people in 2014. That is approximately half of the current population.
The buildup, according to the EIS, may include the relocation of 8,600 Marines and their 9,000 dependents from Okinawa to Guam. An Army ballistic missile defense facility and a facility for recurring visits of an aircraft carrier are included in the proposed expansions.
The quality of life for many residents will improve as the buildup is projected to provide approximately 33,000 jobs for civilian workers at the 2014 peak, according to the draft EIS. An additional 6,150 jobs will be provided on a "more permanent basis" thereafter.
Guam residents are estimated to occupy about 2,000 direct on-site construction jobs for the Marine Corps facilities between 2013 and 2014.
Similarly, excluding direct on-site military construction, residents are expected to capitalize on 2,566 jobs during the 2014 construction boom. The related jobs "include civilian military jobs, direct from purchases jobs and indirect or induced jobs."
An additional 2,211 jobs will be made available by 2020 for Guam residents, as the 15,157 jobs that will be occupied by off-islanders during the boom, will decrease to 3,935 that year, as estimated by the EIS.
The EIS estimates that the increase in buildup economic activities will generate tax revenues for GovGuam worth about $97 million a year after 2014. These revenues will be collected through gross receipts, corporate income and personal income taxes.
Salaries to increase
The average full-time salary -- including those that are indirect jobs -- during both the construction and operational phases, will increase in tandem with the demand for labor.
The EIS states Guam incomes will rise and the average full-time salary for jobs within the construction phase would increase to $33,500, up from the 2007 average of $28,150. This is because there will be more "higher-paying jobs in the architecture and engineering, wholesale trade, and health services industries."
The full-time salary for jobs during the military operational phase would rise to $40,000. It was $28,150 in 2007.
Only about 25 percent of civilian military jobs are expected to be filled by current Guam residents, the document said.
Residents have until Feb. 17, 2010, to provide feedback on the draft EIS for it to be finalized and put into action.
By Laura Matthews • Pacific Daily News • November 23, 2009
Guam's unemployment rate will drop by more than half in 2014 as the buildup creates thousands of jobs, according to the draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed, multibillion-dollar military expansions on the island.
With more people paying income taxes, and as businesses pay more taxes and fees, the draft Environmental Impact Statement estimates that government of Guam will generate $325 million in 2014 revenue alone -- an increase of about 60 percent of its current annual budget.
In the recently published Defense Department document, which contains thousands of pages, Guam's unemployment rate is assumed to fall to 4.0 percent when Guam residents and off-islanders start taking on jobs associated with the military buildup.
The unemployment rate was last recorded in September 2007 and is estimated to be 8.3 percent, according to the document.
Guam's population is expected to soar -- with 79,178 additional people in 2014. That is approximately half of the current population.
The buildup, according to the EIS, may include the relocation of 8,600 Marines and their 9,000 dependents from Okinawa to Guam. An Army ballistic missile defense facility and a facility for recurring visits of an aircraft carrier are included in the proposed expansions.
The quality of life for many residents will improve as the buildup is projected to provide approximately 33,000 jobs for civilian workers at the 2014 peak, according to the draft EIS. An additional 6,150 jobs will be provided on a "more permanent basis" thereafter.
Guam residents are estimated to occupy about 2,000 direct on-site construction jobs for the Marine Corps facilities between 2013 and 2014.
Similarly, excluding direct on-site military construction, residents are expected to capitalize on 2,566 jobs during the 2014 construction boom. The related jobs "include civilian military jobs, direct from purchases jobs and indirect or induced jobs."
An additional 2,211 jobs will be made available by 2020 for Guam residents, as the 15,157 jobs that will be occupied by off-islanders during the boom, will decrease to 3,935 that year, as estimated by the EIS.
The EIS estimates that the increase in buildup economic activities will generate tax revenues for GovGuam worth about $97 million a year after 2014. These revenues will be collected through gross receipts, corporate income and personal income taxes.
Salaries to increase
The average full-time salary -- including those that are indirect jobs -- during both the construction and operational phases, will increase in tandem with the demand for labor.
The EIS states Guam incomes will rise and the average full-time salary for jobs within the construction phase would increase to $33,500, up from the 2007 average of $28,150. This is because there will be more "higher-paying jobs in the architecture and engineering, wholesale trade, and health services industries."
The full-time salary for jobs during the military operational phase would rise to $40,000. It was $28,150 in 2007.
Only about 25 percent of civilian military jobs are expected to be filled by current Guam residents, the document said.
Residents have until Feb. 17, 2010, to provide feedback on the draft EIS for it to be finalized and put into action.
Monday, November 16, 2009
H2 workers vs locals
H2 workers vs locals
Monday, 16 November 2009 04:39
by Jennifer Naylor Gesick | Variety News Staff
Full local workforce development nixed by GCA
WHILE the local labor sector pushes for the development of a resident workforce to meet the demand of the impending multibillion dollar military buildup, the president of the Guam Contractors Association expressed reluctance to prioritize such initiative.
As the University of Guam-sponsored Guam Community and Economic Development Forum wrapped on Friday, a startling comment by GCA president James Martinez sent a small murmur through the crowd attending the forum whose theme was a discussion of ways to create a sustainable future for Guam and island residents.
During the workforce development and employment needs panel, a debate broke out over prioritizing the use of H2 workers over the full-development and training of local workers.
While director of Guam Department of Labor Maria Connelley stressed the need to train and hire local workers for positions related to the buildup especially construction, Martinez said overtraining local people for the temporary construction boom would result in mass lay-offs when the projects are completed. “That is exactly what H-2 workers are for,” said Martinez.
First priority
But Connelley stressed that recruiting H-2s is the last resort. The labor department head reaffirmed the proper order in prioritizing filling thousands of jobs expected to be created by the Guam military realignment. “We will first hire locally, then people from the Federated States of Micronesia, then the U.S., and then H2s,” she reiterated.
Carl Peterson, chairman of the Chamber Education/Workforce Development Committee for the Guam Chamber of Commerce, urged full training and development of Guam workers.
He said his organization wants to see everyone on Guam raise their standard of living with this buildup. “We want everyone to take that initiative,” said Peterson. “We should be focusing on education so people can improve their goals.”
Project completed
Instead of laying off workers when the military build work is completed, Peterson said employers should instead focus on the permanent work that will be created by the largest such military realignment in the history of the U.S.
Retaining employees should be important, Peterson pointed out, because the military has stated they expect to create more than 1,600 permanent jobs on base, adding, “With the feds coming off base to pull your workers on to base, we need to upgrade and educate our current workforce and young people as young as middle school,” he said.
Hard to plan
Martinez said Guam needs a comprehensive study to establish a plan to know the employment needs of Guam.
However, Connelley said that would be hard to do, considering the clear lack of information provided by the Department of Defense, as recently cited in a Government Accountability Office report.
Guam does not have valid data upon which to draw effective conclusions, Connelley said, further noting for forum participants the lack of viable data also makes it difficult to pursue desperately needed grants.
Rising costs
Peterson said that island wages should increase due to a lack of workers in a range of industries as employees move from one sector to another. He said the inflationary impact would be felt down the line, but tempered his projection by adding that everything would level out eventually.
Mary Torre, president of Guam Hotel and Restaurant Association, said most of the concerns for her group’s members had to do with people moving into different jobs. But, she said, they are used to change because tourism is an industry that is in constant flux.
Monday, 16 November 2009 04:39
by Jennifer Naylor Gesick | Variety News Staff
Full local workforce development nixed by GCA
WHILE the local labor sector pushes for the development of a resident workforce to meet the demand of the impending multibillion dollar military buildup, the president of the Guam Contractors Association expressed reluctance to prioritize such initiative.
As the University of Guam-sponsored Guam Community and Economic Development Forum wrapped on Friday, a startling comment by GCA president James Martinez sent a small murmur through the crowd attending the forum whose theme was a discussion of ways to create a sustainable future for Guam and island residents.
During the workforce development and employment needs panel, a debate broke out over prioritizing the use of H2 workers over the full-development and training of local workers.
While director of Guam Department of Labor Maria Connelley stressed the need to train and hire local workers for positions related to the buildup especially construction, Martinez said overtraining local people for the temporary construction boom would result in mass lay-offs when the projects are completed. “That is exactly what H-2 workers are for,” said Martinez.
First priority
But Connelley stressed that recruiting H-2s is the last resort. The labor department head reaffirmed the proper order in prioritizing filling thousands of jobs expected to be created by the Guam military realignment. “We will first hire locally, then people from the Federated States of Micronesia, then the U.S., and then H2s,” she reiterated.
Carl Peterson, chairman of the Chamber Education/Workforce Development Committee for the Guam Chamber of Commerce, urged full training and development of Guam workers.
He said his organization wants to see everyone on Guam raise their standard of living with this buildup. “We want everyone to take that initiative,” said Peterson. “We should be focusing on education so people can improve their goals.”
Project completed
Instead of laying off workers when the military build work is completed, Peterson said employers should instead focus on the permanent work that will be created by the largest such military realignment in the history of the U.S.
Retaining employees should be important, Peterson pointed out, because the military has stated they expect to create more than 1,600 permanent jobs on base, adding, “With the feds coming off base to pull your workers on to base, we need to upgrade and educate our current workforce and young people as young as middle school,” he said.
Hard to plan
Martinez said Guam needs a comprehensive study to establish a plan to know the employment needs of Guam.
However, Connelley said that would be hard to do, considering the clear lack of information provided by the Department of Defense, as recently cited in a Government Accountability Office report.
Guam does not have valid data upon which to draw effective conclusions, Connelley said, further noting for forum participants the lack of viable data also makes it difficult to pursue desperately needed grants.
Rising costs
Peterson said that island wages should increase due to a lack of workers in a range of industries as employees move from one sector to another. He said the inflationary impact would be felt down the line, but tempered his projection by adding that everything would level out eventually.
Mary Torre, president of Guam Hotel and Restaurant Association, said most of the concerns for her group’s members had to do with people moving into different jobs. But, she said, they are used to change because tourism is an industry that is in constant flux.
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