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HomeNewsArchivesLT. GOV RICHARDS ADDRESSES BOARD OF REALTORS

LT. GOV RICHARDS ADDRESSES BOARD OF REALTORS

March 25, 2004 — Thursday morning at the Palms Court Harborview, Lt. Gov. Vargrave Richards and his staff met with members of the St. Thomas Board of Realtors for a lively discussion of issues affecting the real estate community. According to board president Jeyan Stout, the encounter was "one of the best meetings we have ever had."
Richards and his staff got an earful as they listened to the 100 or so realtors, bankers, attorneys and title insurance researchers, none of whom were shy about using this opportunity to bring their concerns to the top brass.
Stout was impressed with the process. "The lieutenant governor was very up-front and willing to deal with the problems we are all experiencing, and I think he will follow through. It's wonderful for everyone to be able to express their concerns and difficulties like this."
Richards also invited a surprise guest to the meeting: Finance Commissioner Bernice Turnbull.
Early in the meeting, Richards said his office has taken the first step in becoming totally computerized. "A contract has been consummated to start the full computerization of all our divisions. We will finally be able to boast that our office has entered the realm of e-commerce."
The Office of the Lieutenant Governor, one of the V.I. government's top revenue-generating entities, includes the Banking Division, Recorder of Deeds, Tax Assessor, and Corporation and Trademarks divisions. Richards noted that due to ongoing technical revisions, each division has seen revenue increases ranging from 17 to 48 percent. Richards also said that more than $120,000 of insurance claims dating back to Hurricane Hugo have been paid.
Problems and pitfalls in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds easily garnered the most attention during Thursday morning's meeting. Title researchers complained that their work is made unnecessarily difficult by the absence of scan sheets. One title attorney said the problem can hold up or cancel a $2 million sale.
The scan sheets cover all transactions in one given day. Recorder of Deeds Wilma Hart Smith claimed no sheets were missing — a remark that left some title researchers looking incredulous.
And the sheets don't list all the names on a transaction, attorney Marcia Resnik said. "If a judgment is against more than one person, we can't tell, the sheets need to be revised."
Another researcher said she has documented information that more than 50 sheets are missing. On Richards' advice, she is forwarding the list to him. Richards told the researchers to direct their concerns to him, personally.
Although he was pleased with the interchange with the real estate community and found it positive, Richards later said he is concerned about the problems in the deeds office.
Kelly Harrigan, director of the Office of Management Information Systems had good news. "The recorder's office will be fully automated by the end of May," she said. She asked the group to bear with the situation until then. "You will kiss my feet when this is done," she said, smiling. "You can come in and look at an online system."
Although Turnbull's visit was unscheduled, the audience was clearly delighted to have a chance to talk with the Finance Commissioner, who brought them up to date on the thorny problem of obtaining tax letters on a timely basis.
Turnbull referred to a conference she had had with realtor April Newland and Sen. Shawn-Michael Malone, which she called "productive." She got everybody's attention and a resounding hand of applause when she announced that it would no longer be necessary to go back to previous tax letters before issuing a new one. "Starting now, you can use old tax letters and new receipts and not go back for 10 to 15 years. It's effective immediately. We are trying to eliminate the research," she said. "You begin with the period where the letter ends," she said. Turnbull said the waiting period for a tax letter should not exceed 10 days.
She later encouraged the realtors to come to her with their problems. "I am here; I'm accessible," she said, but added, "If you don't tell me, I don't know."
Asked about getting property taxes current, Turnbull said that, of course, is her desire, but that it isn't that easy. While the office could bring the taxes up to date by requiring two payments in one year, she noted that it would be "very hard on some people."
According to Turnbull, another critical problem is the tax amnesties the Legislature keeps approving. "If we could keep the Legislature out of it and the law could be rewritten, we could collect taxes. I've said this many times in the Legislature."
Noted local economist Richard Moore was also invited to speak at Thursday's meeting. Moore, who has traced economic trends in the territory for the past several years, cautioned that the current low tax rates are not a permanent trend. "Like any party, it will come to an end," he said.
Moore added that the Economic Development Commission beneficiary companies are a good thing for the territory, though they have bought up so much land they've created an excess demand for housing. Realtor Rosemary Sauter said recently at a housing fair that there is "zero" affordable housing on St. Thomas.
"These people are generally self-made people. They are a dynamic group. They move fast; they are happy here," he said. "We get tax benefits from the EDC personnel," he said.
After detailing the territory's economic trends, including cruise and air arrivals over the past few years, Moore presented an alarming statistic: "St. John is the most expensive place on the face of the earth for federal employees to visit. Their per diem is $482 per day, with notoriously expensive Japan, following second." Moore said he tripped over the figure while looking up something else.
He then cautioned that the territory is rapidly becoming too expensive. "Now that we are king of the hill, we have to watch our back," he said.

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