May 9, 2008 — A slowdown in property sales has reduced revenues coming into the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, Raymond J. Williams, chief of staff for Lt. Gov. Gregory R. Francis told the Senate Finance Committee this week.
Williams and other officials within the Office of the Lieutenant Governor were giving a mid-fiscal-year budget review to the Senate during hearings held in Frederiksted.
That office oversees eight separate subdivisions, five of which generate revenue for the government:
– Office of the Tax Assessor, assessing land values and maintaining cadastral land maps;
– Banking and Insurance;
– Recorder of Deeds;
-Trademarks and Corporations;
– and V.I. Passport Acceptance Facility.
From fiscal year 2007 to FY 2008, revenues from all of these sources declined by a total of $2.9 million Williams said. While he attributed much of the decline to overall economic slowing, "with respect to the Recorder of Deeds revenue, the decrease can be attributed to the decline in property sales," he said.
Figures provided by Williams show these five offices generated $20 million from October 2006 to March of 2007, but only $17.1 million over the same period in fiscal year 2008. Some departments went up and some down. Over the same periods, revenue from the Office of the Recorder of Deeds declined 25 percent, from $10.1 million to $7.5 million. This accounts for $2.6 million of the total decline of $2.9 million.
Every time real property changes owners, the Recorder of Deeds charges a stamp tax of between two and three-and-a-half percent of the land's value. More expensive properties pay a higher percentage of the price as tax. In principle, changes in stamp tax revenues should be nearly exactly proportionate to changes in the amount of money changing hands in land purchases.
Sen. Juan Figueroa-Serville came to the hearing sporting a pink tie and giving out lollipops in celebration of the birth of his first child on May 6; a baby girl christened Amalie Laeah Maria Figueroa. Figueroa-Serville's wife Andrea is well and resting.
No votes were taken at the oversight hearing. Senators came and went, with few present for the entire time. Present were Sens. Terrence "Positive" Nelson, Basil Ottley Jr., James Weber III, Ronald Russell and Figueroa-Serville.
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.
