By Pacific Island Times News Staff
Sen. Joe S. San Agustin has introduced three bills seeking to give immediate assistance to the Chamorro Land Trust Commission.
"The opportunities we have to strengthen the CLTC will directly affect our people. These measures will help CLTC for first-time homeowners and those affected by Typhoon Mawar, improve services, build greater infrastructure for future leases, and help protect Guam’s precious environment," San Agustin said.
Bill 177-37 would establish the aggregate for which the CLTC would utilize when backing home loans for those who build on CLTC properties.
The CLTC possesses $10.4 million in backed loans through the Beneficiary Loan Guarantee Fund and has the potential to assist many more families who were greatly affected by Typhoon Mawar.
Defining the aggregate would assist the CLTC in determining how much they may guarantee loans for these families to rebuild after the storm, and ultimately, many more who seek to build their first homes, especially in this housing crisis.
Bill 178-37 would establish the Chamorro Land Trust Endowment Fund. The revenue from the collection of accelerated rent, in such portions thereof as determined by the Board of Commissioners of the Chamorro Land Trust, shall be deposited and made a part of the corpus of the fund and be invested and reinvested by or under the authority of commissioners.
The endowment will consist of amounts transferred into the fund and any other amounts may occasionally be deposited from public or private sources. All amounts transferred or deposited shall become part of the corpus of the fund to be invested by the Chamorro Land Trust Commission with the earnings therefrom used exclusively for the operations and activities of the CLTC.
Bill 179-37 intends to amend the CLTC lease with the Guam International Country Club that will authorize the use of the property to convert from a golf course into a solar farm.
In addition to the solar farm, it will authorize the GICC to extend the lease from its current expiration of 2039 to 2055, while providing up-front rental payments with an escalated rent.
"These bills work for the benefit of all our people. Helping families build homes for stronger families. Creating a fund that will build the capacity for leasing to those who have waited decades to get their lots and generating the fiscal resources to get more things done," San Agustin said.
"Protecting our water lens from further destruction from pesticides while harnessing the power of the sun to energize our lives and eliminating the use of fossil fuels, creating a cleaner, healthier Guam," he added
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