Court approves $40.476M Settlement Fund budget

The federal court has approved the NMI Settlement Fund’s $40.476 million budget for fiscal year 2027, a 2.57% increase from the previous fiscal year partly due to repair and maintenance expenses stemming from Super Typhoon Sinlaku.

Designated Judge Frances M. Tydingco-Gatewood approved the budget following a Sept. 15 status hearing during which court-appointed Settlement Fund Trustee Joyce C.H. Tang provided an update on the fund.

Tang submitted her report covering the combined second through fourth quarters of fiscal year 2026 last Sept. 11.

“While the FY 2027 budget is 2.57% more than the FY 2026 budget, this increase reflects repair and maintenance expenses resulting from Super Typhoon Sinlaku and refunds to inactive members,” the court said.

The court noted that Settlement Fund operations have remained consistently low and found the proposed budget reasonable.

Tydingco-Gatewood also approved Tang’s selection of attorney Heather Martinez Quitugua as hearing officer and Vanessa Williams Cruz as conflicts hearing officer and arbitrator.

Quitugua and Cruz replace attorneys Deborah Fisher and Richard Johnson, respectively. Tang had requested court approval of the appointments on May 27.

The court also approved longer repayment periods for six Settlement Fund members whose settlement repayment terms exceed the two-year limitation under CNMI law.

Tang represented to the court that the financial circumstances of the six members warranted extending their repayment periods. The court granted the request and approved the repayment schedules outlined by the trustee.

In a separate Sept. 18 order, Tydingco-Gatewood approved Tang’s request for compensation and reimbursement for work and expenses incurred from December 2025 through August 2026.

The invoices totaled $50,273.41 in professional services, expenses and gross receipts taxes. After reviewing the invoices, the court found the request reasonable and said it was satisfied with the trustee’s work.

The court ordered the Settlement Fund to pay Tang $45,462.91, representing 90% of her professional fees and all expenses and gross receipts taxes incurred during the period.

Another $4,810.50, representing the remaining 10% of professional fees, will be held in trust. Tang may petition for its release quarterly, subject to the court’s satisfaction with her work and any objections to her compensation requests.

The court also ordered the Settlement Fund to release another $3,755 previously withheld from invoices for services rendered from June through November 2025. No objections had been filed, and the court said it was satisfied with Tang’s work.

The orders were issued in Betty Johnson, et al. v. David M. Apatang, et al., the long-running federal court case involving the NMI Settlement Fund.