Nov. 6, 2007 — A bill to move real property tax collections out of the Department of Finance into the Office of the Lieutenant Governor was approved by the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday in Frederiksted and sent on to the Rules and Judiciary Committee.
The bill as originally presented would have given the Bureau of Internal Revenue responsibility for collecting property taxes, consolidating income and property tax collection in that agency. But senators on the committee were persuaded by testimony from Debra Gottlieb, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, and from Finance Commissioner Claudette Watson that placing it within the Office of the Lieutenant Governor alongside the Tax Assessor's office was a more logical move.
"The administration supports combining the tax assessment and tax collection functions, inclusive of the collection of sewer user fees, with the Office of the Tax Assessor," Gottlieb said. "We believe that such a consolidation will improve the services rendered to real property tax payers and result in a more efficient, comprehensive and cost effective means of collecting real property taxes."
Under the current system, Gottlieb said, "taxpayers are required to work with two agencies regarding disputes with their real property bill. Such a bifurcated system is outdated and most jurisdictions in the United States have a centralized structure where the assessment and collections functions are managed by one office."
Gottlieb said simply moving the functions would not itself guarantee better service, but the move would make tax collection more rational and make it easier to resolve disputes and errors. She also argued that the tax assessor's office has been augmented and modernized in recent years, due to lawsuits over property taxes, and was better equipped than Finance for the task.
The committee voted to replace the original bill with a substitute submitted by Sen. Neville James. James' bill would move to the Office of the Lieutenant Governor both property tax collection and the existing Finance personnel who currently carry it out.
Sens. James, Liston A. Davis, James Weber III and Terrence "Positive" Nelson voted yea. Sens. Juan Figueroa-Serville, Carlton "Ital" Dowe and Ronald Russell were absent at the time of the vote, though all were present for parts of the hearing. The bill will be addressed in the Rules and Judiciary Committee and if approved there, then by the whole Senate.
The committee also approved a request by the Department of Housing, Parks and Recreation to spend $100,000 in federal grant money to renovate the Alvin McBean Park on St. Thomas.
Housing Commissioner St. Claire Williams said the funds represent two years of annual $50,000 grants put together to get more done. It is called the Outdoor Recreational Acquisition, Development and Planning Grant and is distributed through the Department of the Interior.
Williams said the territory has been receiving this grant since 1972 and has traditionally alternated back and forth between projects on St. Croix and St. Thomas. A quarter of the total is slated for new bleachers for the park's basketball court. The rest is earmarked for resurfacing the courts and repairing fencing, lighting and restroom facilities.
The Finance Committee also approved two long-term leases of government property. The leases are between the Government of the Virgin Islands acting through the Department of Property and Procurement and two lessees. Palace Interior, a small, entrepreneurial cabinet making company owned by Felix Willie, is leasing government land in Sub Base on St. Thomas and Delbert Hill is leasing land in Estate St. John on St. Croix for a taxi and jeep rental company. Both leases are for 20 years with options for up to two five-year renewals. The committee approved both leases previously for terms of forty years, and is now shortening the terms of the leases.
Two other bills were also discussed. One would increase the starting salaries for teachers and nurses and establish "The Math and Science Initiative Fund" to pay for scholarships in those fields for local students who agree to teach or nurse in the territory upon graduation. The other would appropriate $700,000 to purchase a new ambulance boat to serve residents of St. John. Union leaders, Health Department officials and other testifiers all supported the goals of both bills. But in both cases Gottlieb said the funding sources identified in the bills had already been tapped dry.
The territory's teacher and nurse unions oppose the bill raising the entry level salaries for several reasons, including that they regard the legislative act as an infringement of their right to negotiate contracts on behalf of their members.
"Will a maximum salary be set next?" asked Blondell Williams, president of the St. Thomas Nurses Association. "What will stop the Office of Collective Bargaining from taking a strict interpretation of the law and capping entry level salaries at this level several years from now when salaries have moved on?"
Both bills were held in committee in order to seek out new sources of funding.
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