A permit to post signs and billboards by roadsides will go up from $10 per sign to $100 per sign, and permits will have to be renewed every six months instead of annually if a bill approved in committee Friday becomes law.
Sen. Myron Jackson of St. Thomas, the sponsor of the bill, said fees had not changed since 1968 and he hoped the measure could raise much needed cash for the government while helping to keep the roadsides less cluttered and more attractive.
Public Works and Planning and Natural Resources officials testified in support of the bill.
Sens. Terrence "Positive" Nelson and Alicia "Chucky" Hansen expressed concern about the sudden sharp increase, saying businesses might be hard pressed to pay, especially in the current rough economic circumstances.
Because permits would only be for half a year, the cost for a permit to put up a sign would go from $10 per year to $200, Hansen said. "Our business community is struggling. They don’t all get a regular paycheck like us," Hansen said.
Sen. Diane Capehart, chairwoman of the Government Services and Housing Committee that heard the bill Friday, said she could see how the change in price could affect some struggling businesses.
Acting V.I. State Historical Preservation Director Sean Krigger said that concern could be addressed by changing the law so permits would be charged on a sliding scale, where people pay more for a billboard than for a poster or flyer. Jackson said businesses spend hundreds of dollars for a sign and hundreds of dollars for other forms of advertisement, so the permit cost would be a small proportion of their bottom line.
"But our landscape is our greatest asset," Jackson said. "If we don’t regulate, then we are doing more damage than the fee in this proposal," he said.
Sen. Craig Barshinger moved to send the bill on for further consideration in the Rules and Judiciary Committee. "Clearly this law could use some amendment but is clearly the way to go at this point," Barshinger said.
Voting to sent the measure on to Rules were Barshinger, Capehart, Sens. Donald Cole and Clifford Graham. Voting no were Hansen, Nelson and Sen. Judi Buckley.
The committee also sent on a bill to adopt standard nationwide language for the territory’s laws licensing and regulating certified public accountants. The language was worked out with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy, in conjunction with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Virgin Islands Board of Public Accountancy, all of which testified in support of the bill.
“[It is] for the betterment of not just public accountancy but professionalism in the United States Virgin Islands,” said Sen. Janette Millin Young, a sponsor of the bill.
The bill eliminates a local law that only allows U.S. citizens to sit for the CPA examination. Currently, noncitizens studying to become CPAs must leave the territory to take the test, receive two years of experience, obtain a license and become a U.S. citizen before being able to legally practice in the territory. Because national regulations allow CPAs to practice sooner and without U.S. citizenship, many leave the islands and choose not to return.
The bill would increase the number of members serving on the Board of Accountancy from three to five; increase the number of education hours required for licensure from 120 to 150; decrease the current two-year experience requirement to one year; and remove the citizenship requirement to sit for the CPA exam.
“At the present time, CPAs in the U.S. Virgin Islands are not deemed substantially equivalent to the other U.S. CPAs because of the lower educational requirement. This has a significant impact on CPAs in the Virgin Islands because, among other things, they are not granted practice privileges in the other U.S. jurisdictions,” testified Suzanne Jolicoeur, a senior manager at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
George Willie, managing partner of the accounting firm Bert Smith & Co., also spoke in support of the bill. “The passage of the proposed legislation will enable the Virgin Islands to be ‘substantially equivalent,’ thus allowing our local CPAs to compete in the other 49 states and the Districts of Columbia and allowing them to retain and maintain clients with operations in those states,” Willie said.
Hansen objected to a section of the law that required all members of the Board of Accountancy be U.S. citizens.
V.I. Public Accountancy Board Chair Janice Hodge said, "When we created this section of the bill we actually lifted it directly" from the text used in 49 states. "But as a board we would support striking that provision."
Hansen proposed an amendment removing that one passage. Another amendment from Millin Young made some technical changes. The committee then voted unanimously to send the bill on for further consideration in Rules.
