The last day of the Senate Finance Committee's budget hearing for Fiscal Year 2001 wrapped up at 10 p.m. Monday, concluding what Committee Chairwoman Lorraine Berry called "the most talked-about budget in Virgin Islands history."
Appropriations totaling $361.3 million were passed for the government's executive departments and agencies, and will go to the Rules Committee Tuesday or Wednesday, and to the full Senate, if approved by Rules.
Berry said the committee had cut every agency's budget, except for the Internal Revenue Bureau, Finance Department and the Inspector General's office. IRB was the most dramatic increase from $5.9 million to $8.1 million. Berry said throughout the hearings that the revenue collecting agency must have the funds to operate efficiently and collect taxes. The increased funding, Berry anticipates, will better equip the agencies to collect the tens of millions in back taxes owed the government.
Gov. Charles Turnbull's proposed Year 2001 Budget of $429.6 million had to be lowered as two of his projected revenue proposals flunked. The highly unpopular gross receipts tax increase from 4 percent to 5 percent was killed by the Finance Committee, along with a cost-sharing proposal to require government employees to pay 50 percent of their retirement contributions.
Projected revenues fell to $414.6 million.
The final figures are the following.
V.I. Election System $ 719,654
Board of Elections STT/STJ 50,852
Board of Elections STX 57,749
Board of Education 1,279,700
Office of the Governor 5,514,145
Office of Mgt. And Budget 1,035,382
Division of Personnel 2,481,635
V.I. Fire Services 9,405,316
Office of Veterans Affairs 244,550
Office of the Lt. Governor 3,476,161
Dept. of Justice 23,845,598
Licensing/Consumer Affairs 2,022,760
Inspector General 988,395 – increase from $716,290
Department of Finance 6,312,430 – increase from $5,649,432
Dept. of Prop. & Proc. 4,049,818
Dept. of Health 26,084,407
Dept. of Education 120,234,903
Hosp. & Health FAC Corp. 37,277,397
Dept. of Human Services 28,880,344
Dept. of Planning & NR 5,034,408
V.I. Police Dept. 28,049,241
Dept. of Public Works 22,706,552
Dept. of Housing, Pks&Rec 5,054,776
Dept. of Agriculture 2,770,272
Dept. of Tourism 3,223,485
Dept. of Labor 2,186,692
Miscellaneous 9,815
Grand Total $361,296,384.
The above totals do not include funding for the Legislature, Territorial Court or the University of the Virgin Islands. With those added in, the total spending from local funding would come to $416.9 million, Post Auditor Campbell Malone's projected revenue figure. Federal grants would bring the total government spending to around $441 million in FY 2001.
Berry said, "Whatever could happen to delay this budget, happened." She cited the Southern Energy hearings, the teachers' strike, the budget's late arrival from Government House and Hurricane Debby. However, Berry was full of praise for her committee and said she hoped there would be improved revenues for 2001.
