June 8, 2007 — Families living in Virgin Islands public housing will see their first rate increases in nearly a decade, and political leaders aren't happy about it.
Starting July 1, families in V.I. Housing Authority facilities could see their rents increase close to $200, said Donna White, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which took over the nearly bankrupt housing authority in 2003.
Political housing rules cap rents at a maximum of 30 percent of a family's income. The rent increases affect the maximum amount a family would have to pay.
Congressional Delegate Donna M. Christensen called the increases "unconscionable" in a letter to the housing authority. "It was unfair to base rent on fair-market rates, given the high cost of living and comparatively low salaries in the Virgin Islands," she wrote.
Sen. Celestino A. White Sr., a frequent critic of federal involvement in the Virgin Islands, said he was dismayed by the rate increases.
"Now they are taking food out of the bellies and clothes off of the backs of the most disadvantaged in our community,” White said. “Public housing is supposed to be an evolution from government dependency to self sufficiency.”
The rate increases were the first since 1999 and long overdue, Donna White said. The rent increases also set separate rates between the two island districts for the first time. The St. Croix rents are about $100 less on average.
Since 1999, a studio apartment has cost a maximum of $432 a month. In St. Thomas, that rent will now be a maximum of $595, and in St. Croix it will be $480.
One bedrooms increase from $525 to $723 in St. Thomas and $600 in St. Croix.
Two bedrooms increase from $618 to $806 in St. Thomas and $680 in St. Croix.
Three bedrooms increase from $772 to $893 in St. Thomas and $760 in St. Croix.
Four bedrooms increase from $865 to $982 in St. Thomas and $888 in St. Croix.
A five-bedroom apartment will increase from $944 to $1080 in St. Thomas and $978 in St. Croix.
The increases will affect 178 of the 1300 households in public housing in St. Thomas, and just 27 of the 1100 public housing households in St. Croix, Donna White said.
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