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Charlotte Amalie
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNewsArchives$50 MILLION DISBURSED FROM BOND ISSUE

$50 MILLION DISBURSED FROM BOND ISSUE

The Finance Department has disbursed the first $50 million from the recent $300 million bond issue, Government House announced Thursday night.
Vendor payments totaled slightly more than $23 million, income tax refunds just over $15 million. Almost $12 million went to meet government payroll.
One of the urgent reasons given by the government in seeking the bond issue was to meet the three paydays this month for government workers.
Finance Commissioner Bernice Turnbull said the vendor payments were for debts incurred prior to Sept. 30, 1998. The tax refunds were for the tax year 1997 and before.
However, Thursday's payout does not cover all of the outstanding 1997 tax refunds, Turnbull said, adding, "There are more refunds to be processed."
As of last spring the Virgin Islands government owed $89 million in back taxes and $51 million in vendor payments, according to a report by CORE International Inc., the firm hired by former governor Roy L. Schneider to develop a fiscal recovery plan.
In the press release from Government House on Thursday, Commissioner Turnbull said, "Vendor payments and income tax refunds are ongoing until the total outstanding sums allocated for these two categories are paid."

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