ALTHOUGH the average amount of monthly payments to the federal receiver Gershman, Brickner & Bratton has gone down compared to the previous years’ level, the solid waste consent decree continues to impose a financial burden on the government of Guam.
From January to June this year, federal judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood approved a total of $1.077 million in payments to GBB for managing Guam’s solid waste system.
The latest invoice for $161,017.72 was approved on June 19.
Excluded from the million-dollar payments that directly go to GBB are the 10 percent portions for retention fees that the federal court holds in trust.
Each order included a remark expressing the court’s satisfaction with GBB’s performance during the period covered by the invoice.
In her Feb. 1 order, Gatewood noted that the receiver’s billings for fees and services “has dropped significantly since the closure of the Ordot Dump and commends the receiver’s efforts to decrease costs for the people of Guam.”
In its June 2010 report, the Office of Public Accountability noted that GBB’s monthly expenses averaged about $213,000.
OPA said the federal receiver had been paid $4.05 million as of Sept. 30, 2009, and it projected GovGuam to pay more than $8.7 million in the next three years from 2009. “How long after July 2011 the government of Guam will fund the receiver’s expenses is unknown,” OPA said.
Under the consent decree, the appointment of GBB as federal receiver would stay in place “as long as necessary to achieve compliance with the decree, unless otherwise directed by the court.”
The government of Guam issued bonds totaling $202 million – with an average annual debt service requirement of $15 million until 2035 – to fund construction of the new landfill and closure of the Ordot Dump.
“Essentially, the $202 million will cost the government of Guam $423 million,” OPA said. “The overall cost for capital funding required for the consent decree projects is $160 million – $105.7 million for the Layon Landfill, $39.4 million for the Ordot Dump closure, and $14.9 million for operations equipment and transfer station.”
