An amendment tacked on by senators during this month’s full session essentially defeats the purpose of a property tax bill meant to help plug the $170 million government deficit, Gov. John deJongh Jr. wrote Tuesday.
In a letter to Senate President Louis P. Hill, deJongh said he would be signing the bill — which would allow property tax bills from fiscal year 2006 onward to be issued at the old 1998 levels until the government gets a break in its longstanding legal battle in District Court — into law, but urged senators to reconsider a section that prevents the government from adding any interest or penalties to the assessments.
DeJongh described the provision — which came to the floor as an amendment from Sen. Michael Thurland and was tacked on during the March 10 session without any objections from the rest of the senators — as "counter-productive," since those fees can be used as a "ready tool" for collecting delinquent taxes.
"I urge that the members of the 28th Legislature reconsider this measure, as it distinctly creates a disincentive for the timely payment by real property taxpayers whose revised 2006 real property tax bills increased under the 1998 rate and assessment level," the governor wrote Tuesday.
The new property tax rate structure deJongh proposed and signed into law a couple years ago was meant to make the bills lower, but cannot be put into use until the court-ordered injunction prohibiting the bills from going out at anything other than the 1998 levels is lifted.
In his letter to Hill, deJongh was more enthused about another section added to the bill, which would shift around money appropriated in the FY 2010 budget so that the Lieutenant Governor’s Office can reconfigure its system and reprogram the property tax data back to the 1998 levels.
This provision was taken from another financing proposal submitted to the Legislature earlier this month by then acting Gov. Gregory R. Francis. The proposal, which would allow the government to shuffle around some unused funds to pad the budgets of various departments and agencies whose operations have taken a hit because of the global economic downturn, has not yet been approved by the Senate.
DeJongh said in his letter Tuesday he would "remain cognizant" of the potential burden residents will be facing if multiple property tax bills are issued within a calendar year.
"With this in mind, my administration will make every effort to alleviate the anxiety of taxpayers with respect to the payment of multiple real property taxes in one year and will work with the members of the 28th Legislature to resolve this matter, which is of great importance to the V.I. community," the governor wrote Tuesday.
