By Pacific Island Times News Staff
The Department of CHamoru Affairs’ combined revenues decreased by $360,000 (or 44 percent) in fiscal 2020 due to the $262,000 decrease in lease revenue resulting from the pandemic-related government shutdown in 2020, according to the Office of Public Accountability.
The FY 2020 audit includes the non-appropriated funds of CHamoru Village, Guam Museum, Research Publication and Training (RPT); and the President’s Office.
For FY 2020, DCA reported a combined net income of $58,000, compared with FY 2019 combined net loss of $660,000. There were no transfers to other government agencies in FY 2020, as opposed to the prior year’s transfers of $719,000.
Similarly, its expenditures decreased by $359,000 (48 percent) primarily due to the $239,000 reduction in contractual expenses. Contractual expenses were significantly reduced due to the closures of the Guam Museum and CHamoru Village and the omission of contractual services in its renewed contract.
CHamoru Village
For FY 2020, CHamoru Village recognized a net loss of $68,000, compared with a $6,000 net loss in FY 2019. Total reported revenues decreased by $236,000 Oct. 19.
The decrease in revenues is attributed to the closure of the CHamoru Village operations between March 16, 2020 and the last quarter of FY 2020, resulting from the Covid-19 global pandemic. Expenses decreased by $175,000, from $542K in FY 2019. The majority of the DCANAF revenues and expenses were from CHamoru Village activities.
Guam Museum
For FY 2020, the Guam Museum recognized a net income of $125,000, which was $38,000 more than FY 2019’s net income of $87,000. Revenues decreased by $122,000 (46 percent) from $267,000 in FY 2019 to $145,000 in FY 2020.
This was mainly due to the closure of the Guam Museum on March 16, 2020 as a result of the Covid-related island shutdown.
The Guam Museum remained closed until the last quarter of FY 2020, thus only generating revenue from tours and/or events from October 2019 through March 2020.
Similarly, FY 2020 expenses decreased by $160,000 from FY 2019 as a result of the omission of collections management and collection assistance from the renewed contract with the Guam Museum operations contractor. There was an expense of only $8,000 for contractual during the current year compared with $164,000 of the prior year.
Research, Publication, and Training (RPT)
The RPT Division was established to develop an articulated curriculum and course text for mandated courses in Guam’s schools and institutions of higher learning related to Guam’s history, language, and culture. For FY 2020, the division recognized a net income of $2,000, as opposed to the $4,000 net loss in FY 2019. For FY 2020, RPT did not recognize a Provision for Obsolescence, which was $8,000 in FY 2019.
President’s Office
For FY 2020, the President’s Office recognized a minimal net loss of $1,000, as opposed to the $14,000 net loss in FY 2019. This was mainly due to the $12,000 reduction in its expenses.
Independent auditors Ernst & Young LLP expressed an unmodified (clean) opinion on the financial statements of DCA’s FY 2020 NAF but identified one material weakness in the DCANAF’s internal control over financial reporting.
As of October 2021, DCA did not contract/employ a full-time trained and experienced accountant/bookkeeper to handle accounting processes and assist with financial reporting.
According to DCA management, in FY 2021, they employed two additional administrative staff sufficient enough to allow the segregation of duties. DCA will begin the procurement process for bookkeeping services from a qualified and certified firm to assist in handling the accounting process for all DCANAFs on or before Dec. 1.
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