The Public Finance Authority authorized $650,000 to the Virgin Islands Housing Authority to assist in purchasing the land behind Roy Lester Schneider Hospital for additions to the Lucinda Millin Home for the Aged on Tuesday.
The PFA board of directors voted unanimously after approval from the Legislature, recommending using funds previously identified for work on the John Moorehead Complex and Old Municipal Hospital.
“Securing the identified funding from the VIPFA is the most crucial step to ensure the funding gap is met and the project can move forward,” said Robert Graham in a letter to Gov. John deJongh Jr.
Legislature Act No. 7345 approves a sum of $650,000 for the project. By reprogramming the 2003 Gross Receipts Tax Bonds previously allocated to the Department of Health’s Old Municipal Hospital project, $637,000 will be provided. The remaining $13,000 will come from the PFA Project Administration account.
After approval of the necessary funds, the governor seemed confident that work on the elderly home could begin where it left off.
"As soon as we take action on this request, they can move forward right away," deJongh said. "So I see this project moving forward in a very short period of time."
The board also resolved that the PFA authorizes $38,000 to the St. Thomas Regional Library project to assist with utility bills. The funds are available from the PFA’s West Indian Company dividends account.
The PFA is generally responsible for the library’s utility bills, but funds will be exhausted after about three months, according to deJongh. They plan to hand over the library to the Department of Planning and Natural Resource before that time.
In closing, the PFA board voted to accept a $185,000 settlement with the Bank of America Corporation, funds that are the PFA’s share of $62.5 million settlement between a group of state attorneys general and the Bank of American Corporation.
According to the settlement papers, the PFA joined in a lawsuit against the corporation after “violations of state and federal antitrust and other laws by BAC and other providers, brokers and advisors, involving the marketing, sale and placement of Municipal Bond Derivatives.”
