General Infonnation............................................ l General Government

GENERAL GOVERNMENT

Hi~hli!!l1t of tlw yc-:ir was the p:i~i:a1r<" of the Elrrti\·,· Cm·rrnor Rill by thr l -.S. SrnaLt'. Tf paSSt'cl liy tlt1: lious1• of Rcpn:.;1•1Hati,·l·~. it wo,;ld u,hcr in a nc,,· er:1 for the people of C11:1m "·ho, durim~· n ;;p:in of 300 yc-ar~ 1mdcr orgm1in•d ~owrn1111·nt. m•q•r had a ,·oice in thi.: selection of their gm·crnor.

H the bill becomes law. thr first ('lcction of clw tcrritory·s chief executive will be !tcld in :'\1.wc111bcr. 1970. The bill \\'Oukl rrstrirL :1ny !!0\'f'n10r rrnm srr\'ing more• than two ronscruti\'t· Iyear terms. l"hr bill nlso r:illed for the :ippointmrnt of a (!o,·ernmcnt romptrnllcr by the U.S. Scrn:tarv of Interior.

Pend in~ bcforr the Feclernl Conirref..~ wns a bill co inn1·M1· h,· S'.-10 n1illion tlH' authori'l.:ition 11nd<'r 1i1:· Gunm Rt·ha1,ilitation Art. Thi.: ori~inal :111thorinitio11 of S·l.1 111illion in lo:ins and ~rant~ is soon to he-t·xhaustrcl.

Still pendint! in the ~on~rc~s ,,·a~ a hill to a11thorii'<' appropriation of .':i 111illin11 for the purposc-of arrrlrra1in~ tit<' c\'011011dc dc,·clopmcnt nf the tc-rri1ory. /\ pon ion of I he· a mo111H .~011gl I l ,, i 11 be 1·nnnarkc·cl for n~ric-ult11ral clc-vrlnpnwnt pro_icc-ts nncl the clc,·clopmcnt nf indu~trial parks.

Sc,·cral 111a_ior pit:<"es of le~isla1ion wrrr introclurccl in tlw Ninth C11a111 l.c-gisb111rL' during ir• sra,nd rrc,1br session in January and ,l111w. 1%11. ,\n1011g L11t·111 w1·n· :nliui11i~u·atic>11 hill< tn t'l'<'at<' .1 nrw DrpnrllllC'llt nf Lnhor. • , 111-w lkp:1nn1ent of .-\<lministratio11. ,t new Dcpart111c111 of Revenue :ind Taxation. and a Department of Corrcl'tions.

Other rcor.~anizational lcgislntion \\·a~ tlw c-rc-n I ion of :i go,·cnm1ent of C.mu11 Ci,·il Scn·irc Comlllission. The Comm is~ion. comprisi nz of sm·cn members appointed by th~ GO\·cmor and ronfinnrcl by the legislature. assumed all funcrions of the 1,crsonncl board.

The rconrnnizationnl studir were prrfor111rd hy thl:' H11r<-au of }vfa11ace111rnt Rrsrnr<'h. a staff office of the Om·<·rno1·. Tht· llurcau al~o prodclrd log-i~tir ~upport to th<• Cid! Service Coll!mission prnding rccrnit111cnt of its

o\\·11 staff.

The Ex<'rmi,·c Br:inrh adoptccl the Fedrr:il (:owrnmrnt·s Planning, Procrnmin!.(, ,111d Bucl_gl'lin{! r PPill syst•,•111. anc.l in linc-\\'ith this conrrpt of long--ran11;1· plnnning. tlw Co,·c-rnor·s Staff Pb11ni11c Counril. rn111priscd of cabi1wt-l<·\'l'I l'<"om,mic and 1to,·crn1m·111al planrwrs. fonmilatrcl :i :i-~·r:ir eapi1al imprm·c•1111•m prograrn. .\,non({ innorntions during the ~1-nr "·as th,· utiliz:nion of a11toma1il' d:ua pro<Ts,imt in 1hc-pr<'p:iration of 1>ayroll dlt'rk~. Pli111~ call for Llw use of tlw rrn11puln sys1c-111 i11 other prog-ram area~ in the· near f11nin·.

TII<' t!;<'tlC'ral fund rc,·t·1111c stalcmcnl 1t'flc·ctt:d approxi111atch-S3-I 111illion :is li,l\'illg hcc·n n·a I iz<"d I)\· t hr 1t0\·c·rnm1•n L i11 fiscal ,·rnr l~lfiH. This all!ount was S2 1nillio;, II'. s than tlt1· proj,·rn·d fig11n•. Tlw ddil'ic•nn '"" r:111~rrl lnrg<'ly b,· ll'H·11111· losses in i111·01nc· lax<'s . liqnid furl taxe~. nnd Fee.feral ~r~1nts-in,1id. Tlw arcl'll-ratcd inc-0111c tax rr-

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Portion of automatic data processing equipment utilized by the Government of Guam in the preparation of the payroll.

fund program required a sizable outlay of funds which were charged against collections, the net clfect being a reduction of actual receipts. Liquid fuel tax revenue was below projected figures because of the loss of military sales. Grants-in-aid projections were made on the basis of 75 percent Federal participation. The Federal share was reduced to 50 percent.

Income tax deficiencies resulting from audit examinalions exceeded that of the previous year by $308,314.85 for a total of $912,176.17. A total of 3,644 audits were completed, compared to 3,066 the previous year.

Delinquent accounts collection totaled a record high of $1,964,644.79, an increase of $683,807.81 over the previous year.

The Re.al Property Tax Division of the Department of Finance entered in its rolls assessments involving 13,609 land parcels and 9,871 buildings. There were 98 l more la:nd parcels and 450 more new buildings assessed during fiscal 1968 than in the prev.ious year. In tenns of assessment value, the landed properties represented $18,707,380. Buildings were valued at $18,524,940.

The ta..x assessment on the land parcels totaled $561,205.80, an increase of $15,222.30 over the previous year. Assessment on buildings was $555,806. 70. The combined taxes for land and buildings totaled $1,117,012.50.

The major development in litigation was the granting of a rehearing in the Sayre case by the Ninth Ci1·cuit Cou1t of Appeals. This involved an interpretation of the Organic Act in determining the tax liability on Guam source income to a corporation not doing business in the territory. The court reversed its previous decision in the Atkins-Kroll case and held that ta..xpayers, both nonresident individuals and corporations not doing business in Guam, were nonresident aliens

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or forriJ.(11 ro1 pm at ions for r;u;1111 in• num· ta, purpOS<'\.

The Dt·pallmrnt or fin:111n· ~ccurccl tlw ,er,1c-<•s of nu In1t·111al Rt•,·cnur Sc·n·irr rn-.; 1na11agc111('tll 1rnm \,·hirl1 t'l'\ icwt'd and rernmprd tll(' op1•1ationnl and prna·clurnl S\~ll'llh of tl11t·c rritical

areas: ( I lnn)lllt' 1.1:- amliting: 2, :1<·ro1111ti111,: and 111·orc~si11g: and (3) ('(11lcrtion l·nforrr11w11t. .\ conrr11rcl rfTor t wa~ 111adf' to dimin:i.tr UIIIH'tTs~a1y tiprrations and clup}j. ration of ,,ork a~ wrll as to i111pro,·1· proC"rdure~. Th<' thr<'r-ma11 tax 111anagrm<'nl tc-a111 111ad1· a si~nifrcant ron• tribution lo th.is program nnd co rhr. <l('panmcnt's c:oal of attaining a nu. rrnt stntus in :ill opc-rati<>m. Tax :.tr• 1·011nt5 "hirh had been maintained 111a11uall~ \\'ere ,·om·rned to :i ,non· t•fficirnt mnrhiiw accou11ti11g s~ stt•111. The logging of all i1Kou1c tax retu1 n~. in addition 10 1<·1·ordi11,g 1hr111 in :i .:anl index. ,,as c•lilllin:itcd as \WI'<' m:im· 01h1·r unncn·.»ar~ 1ctordi11g op• rratiom .. \ nc\, ~,~tc·m for tll!' annual 1 c~istration of motor n·hirles was cstablislwd ,, hich grc:u I~· facili lated the operation.

Omin~ 1hr war. the J >i, ision of Prnc·un·111t·:n a11<l Supply maclc· pmrh.,sc w111111i1111l·nts rntalinc $1.922, lll6 1hro11gh oprn 111arkt·1 !ll'!!Otiatiom and ~rah·d hid pron:d11r<'~- .\pproximatdv 8.3 pen <'Ill of all purrhasC'\ wt·rc 111aclr thrc,ugh !oral ,·1·11<.lors. For<:i~n purcha~P~ ronstitult·d 2 pen t•nt.

TIii' di\ision rcnclrrrcl ronsidcrabk• a,;sisranr<· lo tlw t1 ust tc-rritory subsr• <1ucnt 10 thr dc,·aslatio11 inflicted upon . 'aip:in and othrr ncil!hboriul{ islamls in \pril, 1%8. by Typhoon Jran.

An i~lanch,·ist· rc1isus conducrccl by the- cli~t rin 1·0111111 i~~io11r" i.h«J\\ l·cl a ri, ilian pnpulation of .'ill .. i()8 as of :\pril 30. I %8 . .\lon· th:in 50 pc·r-rt•nt of the <'i\'ilian populatinn rr~iclrd in six or the island\ l<'l lllltllil ipalitic-,.

The prccinn s1rnc111n•, \\(TC n•ot• J.!:lllizc·d and ,·ntcrs' rcr01cls \\'ere prcparrcl for the· )')68 l!<'lll'ral clc·rtion. • I lw total n11mh1·r of regr)>tt·n·d , olct s "as 18.923.

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