The committee is concerned that the territorial government's program and functional fee increases will significantly affect our cost of living. In particular, fee increases in the transportation sector including airport land fees, general terminal fees and increased airport leases would be initially borne by the airline companies, but inevitably passed on to the northern consumer, business and government. Committee members note that residents will also be directly impacted by increases to motor vehicle licenses and related administrative fee increases.
The committee further remarked that northern residents would not only be affected by some fee increases, but by rising fuel costs as well. This translates into higher living and operating costs for both the consumer and businesses. In particular, people on a fixed income and businesses that are marginally profitable will be severely impacted. As a result, the committee, in recognition of the wide-ranging and significant effects of this issue upon our entire region, referred this matter to the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight for additional exposure and discussion.