75.7 F
Charlotte Amalie
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesHuman Services Forced to Cut Energy Assistance Program

Human Services Forced to Cut Energy Assistance Program

Low-income seniors and disabled residents are going to be hard hit Monday when payments from the Energy Crisis Assistance program, which helps cover utility bills for those in need, will be suspended—at least for the time being.

Funding for the Human Services Department program for Fiscal Year 2011 has run dry. Lennox Zamora, an administrator in the department’s Division of Family Assistance, said Tuesday, "We knew it couldn’t last. We knew we had only half this year, one million, and we were aware it would happen."

The program’s budget was cut in half from its previous $2 million in the local appropriation for FY 2011.

Zamore said since the fiscal year began in October, the department has made 5,847 payments for seniors and 561 for disabled residents totaling $1.23 million. The program was officially in the red as of last week.

"These are tough financial times," Zamore said. "I’m certainly very concerned for the people the program helps." While some folks reportedly are despairing over the situation, one retired Frenchtown fisherman who will definitely feel the crunch, took a more philosophical view on Tuesday.

"Nobody can change it," he said. "It’s not just me; it’s all of us. The government’s broke. Everybody’s going to have to accept it, whether they like it or not. We’re just going to have to bite the bullet, one day at a time. And," he added, "Thank God for life."

Human Services Commissioner Chris Finch said Tuesday, "The funding is already in the proposed 2012 budget from the Executive Branch. We hope that will be between $1.5 million and $1 million. The worst-case scenario would be that the program would start up again next year. We’ve been talking to the governor and the OMB [Office of Management and Budget] director to work on finding additional funding for the balance of this year."

"Part of what’s going on,” Finch said, “is that the program has become more popular because of the recession. It used to be that many people didn’t take advantage of it. They felt they’d leave it for someone else more needy. But now more people have had to use it. That’s what you have to surmise, because nobody gives it back."

The program was started in 2005, when local funding was $150,000. Zamore said he didn’t know what the federal funding was at that time. The next year, the funding doubled, and it tripled the following year to $900,000.

"The program isn’t advertised. It’s word of mouth," Zamore said. "It’s the highest demand program."

In FY 2008, the local appropriation reached $1 million. In FY 2009 and 2010 it was $2 million. Officials said the program receives about $230,000 from the federal government annually.

For a brief period, the program was extended to all low-income residents, regardless of age or disability, but that came to an end in 2010 when Human Services was forced to restrict eligibility to seniors and disabled residents. The program also pulled back the payments to every other month to stretch the limited funds.

The low-income classification is designated as $25,000 for a single person or $45,000 for a couple, Zamore said.

The V.I Water and Power Authority has no program in place for low-income assistance.

WAPA spokeswoman Cassandra Dunn said Tuesday, "We understand the concern and the hardship of suspending the program, but at this time we do not have the funds to support a program of our own. We will continue to look at it, but we just don’t have the funds right now."

Finch said the department has always had emergency programs to help the most needy. "That’s not new," he said. "Adult Protective Services and Intake and Emergency Services may be able to help now with utility bills."

Comparing the territory to the states, Finch said, "I look at news on the internet from cities, counties and states where for several years there have been far more cuts and sacrifices than we have seen. We’ve really been able to minimize what the impact has been.

"The governor has to get credit for this," Finch said. "He has to look at the whole picture to keep people employed. We may be hitting the point now where we’re running out of options. There’s just no more rabbits to pull out of hats."

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Keeping our community informed is our top priority.
If you have a news tip to share, please call or text us at 340-228-8784.

Support local + independent journalism in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Unlike many news organizations, we haven't put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as accessible as we can. Our independent journalism costs time, money and hard work to keep you informed, but we do it because we believe that it matters. We know that informed communities are empowered ones. If you appreciate our reporting and want to help make our future more secure, please consider donating.