In tight budgetary times, more funding and more flexibility with budgeting would help Public Works get more done, Commissioner Daryl Smalls told the Senate Finance Committee during budget hearings Tuesday.
"As you are aware, the department is often criticized," Smalls testified, for the shape of the territory’s roads and speed of their repair. "A lack of adequate funding is a direct challenge,” he said, adding later that the single biggest impediment is not having the ability to draw upon the St. Croix and the St. John Capital Improvement Funds, as in recent years when the Legislature raided the two funds to meet pressing payroll needs.
Smalls also asked for a lump-sum budget, saying it would make it much easier for the department to allocate resources where they are needed.
Senate Majority Leader Donald Cole said the Legislature has taken funds from the two capital improvement funds "to pay salaries," thus "leaving Public Works without funds it needs." He agreed that "it needs to be addressed."
Smalls presented the Public Works 2013 General Fund budget recommendation of $19.6 million – a half-million dollar reduction from last year, and the fourth year in a row of reductions. Of that, $5.7 million is for wages and salaries; $2.6 million for Social Security, Medicare and benefits; $9.8 million for "other services and charges;" $985,000 for utilities; $512,000 for supplies; and $30,000 for capital projects.
Public Works anticipates receiving just more than $4 million from the miscellaneous section of the budget, with another $1 million from the Anti-Litter and Beautification Fund; $1.5 million for road repairs and striping; $425,000 for the St. Thomas/St. John ferry and other expenses.
Public Works also expects $17.7 million in Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration funds.
Sen. Judi Buckley asked Smalls what his "ideal budget" would be.
"I’d like to see the budget back up to $24 million, with $4 million per year for road maintenance," Smalls said.
Public Works currently employs 243 Virgin Islanders, of whom 158 are paid from the General Fund, three from federal funding, and 82 VITRAN employees paid through the VITRAN subsidy. About 44 percent of the department’s total operating budget pays personnel costs and fringe benefits to its employees – a workforce that has shrunk 22 percent since 2011, Smalls said.
Small testified Public Works has moved forward on, and in some cases completed, several large-scale road projects, including the St. Croix Roadside Safety Project, Christiansted Bypass, Queen Mary Highway, Upper Savan emergency repairs, emergency repairs along St. John’s Centerline Road and Crown Mountain slide repair in Estate Dorothea.
Several other projects are in various phases of construction, including development of Rothschild Francis Square, construction of new ferries, Crown Bay sidewalk and drainage improvements, the Pine Peace basketball court on St. John and pavement rehabilitation efforts across the territory, Smalls said.
