Bills Offsetting Property Tax Liability, Raising Cap on Damages Against Government Held by Senate Committee

The Senate Committee on Budget, Appropriations and Finance decided to hold three bills Tuesday, including one that would offer tax relief to property owners who the government owes money.

Senate President Milton Potter sponsored the bill, which initially called for the Office of the Lieutenant Governor to offset a property owner’s property tax liability against any amount of money that the Virgin Islands government owed to that property owner. The amended version discussed Tuesday would require the government only to offset retroactive wages.

Potter said the bill was inspired by a friend’s mother, who owes the government approximately half what the government owes her in retro pay.

“A legitimate obligation — as a public sector employee, she was owed over $30,000, and she was in jeopardy of losing her property because she owes the government $15,000 … doesn’t seem fair, doesn’t seem just,” he said.

Tax collector Brent Leerdam testified that OLG had serious misgivings about the bill, highlighting, among other concerns, the difficulty of verifying the amount owed to property owners.

“Moreover, it is our position that the offset allowed under this bill does not directly address the issue facing this government in the administration of its fiscal obligations — which is that there is a shortfall in overall revenue collection in the territory, due in large part to inflation and the rising cost of living,” he said. Leerdam said the government’s focus should remain “the enhancement of revenue collections.”

Leerdam also noted that the government owes substantial amounts to labor unions, vendors and contractors.