Sen. Almando "Rocky" Liburd disagrees with the argument made for the benefit of St. John residents by Gov. Charles W. Turnbull in recently vetoing the senator's proposal to exempt owners of land surrounded by the V.I. National Park from property tax obligations.
The governor in his veto message said doing so would not only deprive the treasury of needed revenues but also discourage efforts by the landowners to get the National Park Service to allow the construction of access roads.
Turnbull is sending the wrong message, Liburd said Monday. "The point is that there should never be persons" who have property but cannot access it, he said.
Also on the land access issue, the Association of Concerned Native Virgin Islanders has written to the governor and to Delegate Donna Christian-Christensen. In the letter dated July 12, association president Sysca Williams asked the top officials to persuade the National Park Service to grant road access to St. John landowners. "Poor St. Johnians should not be forced to battle the NPS with [its] unlimited resources which are utilized to frustrate the legitimate claims of access to Virgin Islanders," Williams wrote.
For 40 years native St. Johnians with land given to them by their families have been kept from making roads through the park to those properties. The roads that did exist, Williams said, were turned into trails by the park service and claimed as park property.
About 10 families are seeking relief from the situation for land parcels in the Mandahl area totaling between 12 and 30 acres. The annual property taxes for those lands are currently $500 to $1,000.
