DELEGATE Madeleine Bordallo and Sens. Rory Respicio and Judi Guthertz are in agreement that changing the Marine force lay down on Guam to solely rotational will adversely affect the government of Guam’s anticipated revenue flow from Section 30 funds.

In response to Sen. Respicio’s letter of concern about the process of rotating Marines and other Department of Defense personnel through Guam, which could possibly lead to a loss of Section 30 funding, Bordallo in a letter to the senator said she also had concerns about a purely rotational force on the overall military posture in the region.

Bordallo said she has already informed Department of Defense officials that a “simply rotational force of Marines on Guam would create a ‘DC-like’ situation whereby our infrastructure is burdened but revenues that could help offset these impacts would not be obtained.”

Bordallo said she has also cautioned DOD about making substantial changes to the realignment plan that relies on rotational forces on Guam.

“There must be a balance between a robust permanent presence of Marines as well as a rotational component. It’s foolish to believe a rotational component would save any money in the long run,” Bordallo said.

Bordallo has also requested DOD to gather information on service members who visit Guam on temporary duty orders. However, DOD’s current fiscal and personnel systems do not allow for an accurate accounting of these personnel on Guam for the purposes of determining additional Section 30 payments.

Bordallo assured Respicio that if DOD moves forward with a significant rotational force of Marines on Guam, she will work with the feds, the Guam Legislature and the governor to find ways to make sure DOD keeps track of these rotational personnel and remit additional Section 30 funding.

The government of Guam receives Section 30 funds from federal civilian and military personnel assigned to Guam for 180 days or more. These funds come from income taxes paid by these individuals and are included in GovGuam’s revenue stream via the General Fund.

Under the Organic Act’s Section 30 provision, tax collections from all federal personnel paid for performing duties on Guam that would normally go to Washington are instead turned over to Guam’s Treasury.

Guam receives over $52 million in Section 30 funds each year from the Internal Revenue Service.