General fund will be $15 million short
500 tribal employees could be laid off

By Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — The Navajo Nation's net general fund will fall about $15 million short this coming year, the council's Budget-Finance Committee learned Tuesday afternoon.

An estimate given to the council during its winter session in January, based on information current at the time, was $37 million less than this year's $120.5 million.

Actual general fund gross revenues this year are budgeted at $148.2 million. This excludes a 3 percent sales tax which goes to the 110 chapters and an 18-cents per gallon gas tax which goes to a separate road fund. Six other accounts receive money off the top almost $28 million this year.

For the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, Controller Mark Grant said the gross revenue is expected to drop to $138.5 million, with more than $33 million being taken off the top for the six reserve funds. This will leave a net of $105.1 million in the general fund.

The six set asides projected for the coming year are $16.6 million into the Permanent (Trust) Fund, $2.8 million into the Land Acquisition Trust Fund, $2.8 million into the Local Governance Assistance Fund, $2 million into the Capital Outlay Match Fund, $2 million into the Water Rights Claim Fund and, for the first year, $7.2 million into the Higher Education Fund for the Dine' College system, Crownpoint Institute of Technology and college scholarships.

Grant advised his figures are subject to revision.

500 layoffs
Emmitt Francis of the Management-Budget Office advised that if the current non-personnel amounts and the percentages of spending devoted to personnel stay the same, some 500 people would have to be laid off. The tribe employs about 7,000 people in all.

This year in the Judicial Branch personnel costs take up 91 percent of the $6.8 million. In the Legislative Branch, people costs consume 61 percent of the $14.4 million. In the Executive Branch, staffing costs use up 57 percent of the $119.1 million. All the figures are for the general fund only and exclude any outside funds for the branches.

Normally the general fund money generated by tribal taxes, fees and royalties makes up about one-fourth of the total spending which has exceeded a half-billion dollars the past few years.

The Budget-Finance Committee spent about an hour listening to President Joe Shirley Jr., Speaker Lawrence Morgan and Judicial Branch Fiscal Director Jimmy Yellowhair explain how their branches plan to deal with the lower revenue.

Morgan was the most prepared, listing many items he will target. Shirley spoke in general terms, adding his hope for an early start to casino operations in the spring of 2006 to fill the void. He added that he doesn't think $15 million is such a big deal because it is what he called "doable." Yellowhair indicated that Acting Chief Justice Lorene Ferguson will depend more upon federal grants and that a drop in the cost of judges' retirement payments will help.

Eliminate vacant positions
Morgan said he would eliminate vacant positions, especially those unfilled for a year, and reduce travel something Shirley already has ordered his division directors to enforce, forbidding meetings and training sessions outside the reservation as much as possible.

Council committees are notorious for their off-reservation travel, often using up their budgets and having to have them refilled during the year.

The speaker said he is eyeing a 5-10 percent cut in this line item.

A related subject which needs the scalpel applied, he indicated, is registration and training. In fact he wants to cut it all out for a year, except what is needed to keep attorneys and accountants licensed.

Morgan said discretionary spending small payments to residents for emergency help must be put on the chopping block, even though it is popular.

Capital spending will have to be curtailed if it involves recurring costs. In the past two years, the Legislative Branch has spent a lot on improved technology, such as wireless laptops computers for each delegate.

Morgan also proposes abolishing programs which have achieved their goals. He called this his "sunset provision."

The speaker said he would look at a hiring freeze, not allowing new positions to be established.

He also wants the money panel to do the job assigned in writing the 5-year plan for the use of the profits from the Permanent (Trust) Fund. Right now it is an estimated $6 million. For FY 06, $2.8 million goes to the Local Governance Assistance Fund to help chapters.

Morgan said a bill is being drafted right now on increasing revenue, based on last year's work by each council committee, but the results won't really show up until FY 07.

He called the monetary crunch a good opportunity to assess the overall size of the tribal government and an opportunity to reduce the central government's size.

— To contact reporter Jim Maniaci, telephone (505) 371-5443.