Koror State Governor Eyos Rudimch submitted Koror State’s proposed annual budget of $9.2 million for the Fiscal Year 2022. $9.2 million of the budget is authorized but only 75% (or $6.98 million) is appropriated for expenditure.
The sources of funds for the budget include $1.001 million from national government block grants, $3.092 million from state local revenue, and $5.155 million from Koror State Savings Reserve Funds.
The largest expenditure component of the budget is the personnel cost and compensations. Out of the $9.2 million total proposed budget, $5.676 million (62%) is authorized for personnel costs, the chiefs, and committees’ compensations.
There are no capital improvement projects (CIPs) in this proposed budget, only budgets for building maintenance and “hamlet projects”.
Travel expenses are drastically reduced across the board compared to previous years but compensations remain the same.
Koror had earlier requested assistance from the national government to support a loan proposal with Asian Development Bank to help support its operations. Tourism revenue pre-covid represented over 60% of Koror State’s annual revenue. This dropped to nearly zero in 2020 and 2021.
This year’s proposed budget pulls $5.155 million from its Savings Fund to offset the loss of tourism revenue.
The bill still has to pass the Koror State Legislature before returning to the governor for final approval.