Nov. 19, 2007 — Upset that no legislative Committee of the Whole meeting on property-tax issues is planned for St. John, residents are faxing all 15 senators in hopes they'll schedule one.
"They're going to be flooded with faxes," said Myrtle Barry, who heads the Unity Day Group's property-tax revaluation committee.
The Committee of the Whole is meeting on the issue Monday on St. Croix and Tuesday on St. Thomas.
Barry said she hopes senators won't do what they "traditionally" do, "rule on decisions without hearing from the public." Members of the group first wrote the senators Sept. 15 to request a Committee of the Whole meeting on St. John, and none responded, Barry said.
Since St. John votes, the Committee of the Whole should meet there, said St. John resident Lorelei Monsanto, also a member of the Unity Day Group's property-tax revaluation committee.
"We're going to show them we count," Monsanto said. Going to St. Thomas for the Committee of the Whole meeting poses time and financial hardships for St. John residents, she said.
Senate President Raymond "Usie" Richards said he is not holding a Committee of the Whole meeting on St. John because the St. Thomas and St. Croix meetings are to discuss with government representatives the proposed tax rates Gov. John deJongh Jr. sent to the Legislature Nov. 10.
There will be no opportunity for the public to speak at these meetings, Richards said.
Sen. Louis P. Hill said his office is requesting that Sen. Ronald Russell, who is minority leader, put together a petition asking for a Committee of the Whole meeting on St. John.
"The St. John community seems to be impacted the most," he said, referring to the property-tax revaluation. Hill said he hopes the petition won't be necessary and Richards will "do the right thing" and call a meeting on St. John.
Many St. John residents have been up in arms since the property-tax revaluations first hit the mailboxes in August.
The $360-per-square-foot base price used in the revaluation process for houses on St. John is the first problem, since the base price on St. Thomas stands at $93 per square foot and, on St. Croix, at $89 per square foot, Barry said.
"St. John property-tax values are out of the ballpark," she said.
The St. John base price is based on a period when the real-estate market was at its highest, with only investors buying and selling high-priced homes, Barry said. More modest homes owned by people who live on St. John rarely sold in that time period, she said.
Barry called for a complete look at the St. John property-revaluation picture because the values are so high. She also noted that the new tax rates in deJongh's bill on Nov. 10 increased from those presented by Lt. Gov. Gregory Francis and Tax Assessor Roy Martin at a series of public meetings held on all three islands in early October.
While the handout distributed at those meetings indicated the tax rate for houses would be 0.0036, the bill indicates the rate will be 0.00377. The tax rate for land went up from 0.0046 to 0.00495. Commercial property jumped from a tax rate of 0.0065 listed on the handout to 0.00711. The tax rate for timeshares went up from 0.0110 to 0.01407.
Back Talk Share your reaction to this news with other Source readers. Please include headline, your name and city and state/country or island where you reside.
