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PHILIPSBURG--Steadily growing personnel cost, especially due to overtime, medical cost and increasing pension premiums appear to be leading government into a budget deficit for 2014. Government expenditures is said to be around NAf. 8.2 million over projections.

The budget was set at NAf. 426 million originally, but was increased to NAf. 430.6 million via a budget amendment last year. The budgeted amount was not realized with income coming in at NAf. 430.2 million, Finance Minister Martin Hassink told Parliament on Friday.

"In some areas, we are above and in others below" in collection, the minister said in the Central Committee meeting dealing with the financial reports for all but the last quarter of 2014. That report on that final quarter is completed and will be tabled in the Council of Ministers next week for approval before it heads to Parliament.

Hassink reiterated the need to curb personnel cost. This has been his constant mantra since taking office.

He told Members of Parliament (MPs) the areas of concern for last year's budget is the same as this year's – personnel cost must be reined in and soon.

Overtime is particularly prevalent in the Justice Ministry, where civil servants, such as police, customs officers and prison guards, among others, are constantly needed and often work overtime due to demand or insufficient co-workers.

Government is shouldering hefty cost for the medical coverage of civil servants. Hassink said, "We have to put attention to that" by finding ways to make health care more affordable for government.

The pension premiums are ever increasing. Government pays 22 per cent pension premium for its civil servants. That amount is broken down to a contribution of 14 per cent directly from government and eight per cent by the civil servant via their salary.

The total percentage is slated to increase to 25 per cent in 2016. This is based on the law regulating pension premiums and the General Pension Fund APS. The law mandates the total premium at 25 per cent of the salaries paid. But, government has not been paying the full percentage for years due to an agreement dating back to the days of the General Pension Fund Netherlands Antilles.

Now, APS – St. Maarten's own pension fund – is calling on government to pay the full premium to ensure that the fund continues to be viable. The increase will cost government around an additional NAf. 4 million annually.

MPs were told no amendment to the 2014 budget are pending at present, but some will come to bring the budget back into balance as is required for accounting practices, as well as the Kingdom Law of Temporary Financial Supervision for Curacao and St. Maarten.

One amendment was in the offing to add dividends from Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten (CBCS). That dividend was not received last year, thus the amendment was scrapped. The dividend payment is included now in the 2015 budget.

Friday's meeting was the completion of one that started in December 2014. The meeting was suspended to give Hassink time to gather information to questions posed by MPs. However, he was not able to return to Parliament before the end of the year due to illness. At the start of this year, he was occupied with the completion of the 2015 budget and its passage for approval in Parliament.