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HomeNewsLocal newsMapp Defies Veto-Override on Estate Catherineberg

Mapp Defies Veto-Override on Estate Catherineberg

In vetoing for the second time legislation to acquire the historic Estate Catherineberg property on St. Thomas from the West Indian Company, Gov. Kenneth Mapp said he would not take any action even if his veto were overridden yet again.

Mapp also approved 14 pieces of legislation and vetoed three others this week, mostly bills approved in a June 14 legislative session. He has not acted one way or the other yet on a bill approved at that session to limit his ability to extend territorial states of emergency indefinitely without oversight.

WICO owes the government millions of dollars in past-due contractual payments in lieu of taxes. The Catherineberg legislation Mapp vetoed would have the government take possession of property and deduct its appraised value from WICO’s debt. Mapp vetoed similar legislation in June 2017.

“I cannot approve this measure as drafted, nor would I implement this measure if the Senate chooses to override my veto.” Mapp said at the time. The Legislature did override the veto and Mapp did not implement it. The same requirement was approved as an amendment to a bill approved in a session in June.

Mapp doubled down on his previous vow with his most recent veto message.

“Our Legislature can set the sale or transfer price of property and settle the tax, financial or PILOT claims of the government all with 10 affirmative votes?” Mapp wrote in his letter to the Legislature this week.

“Well, let me tell you, no number of affirmative votes of the Legislature can trample on the co-equal powers and responsibilities of the Executive Branch. I want you to know that no action of the government will be taken to effectuate the transfer of the named property,” Mapp continued.

WICO, which is fully owned by the V.I. government and structured like a private company, has long paid a set fee – a payment in lieu of taxes, of $700,000 per year – instead of paying corporate income tax, property tax or gross receipts taxes. Up until 2006, WICO paid its PILOT in full, but since then has made partial or token payments. It has fallen millions of dollars behind in its payments and currently owes $6.65 million. WICO officials cite competition from V.I. Port Authority facilities and say they are not making enough to pay the PILOT.

WICO’s financial condition and where it spends its money are difficult to verify. Despite being owned by the government and despite a V.I. Supreme Court ruling that it is effectively a government agency in many respects, WICO has refused to date to comply with the V.I. Open Records Act and allow the public access to all its meetings minutes and financial records.

Mapp also vetoed a section of the bill which he said seeks to “fund a vendor contract which does not exist.”

“Why is the Legislature invoking itself into the procurement process of the Executive Branch … ” Mapp asked, saying it “reeked of impropriety.”

The details of this and other amendments approved as part of the underlying bill – a bill affecting apprenticeships – have not been uploaded to the Legislature’s bill tracking system, leaving their precise terms unclear.

Mapp also vetoed a measure changing the definition of public employees for the purposes of the V.I. Public Employee Relations Board.

“This measure seeks to impair a valid collective bargaining agreement. Why does the Legislature believe that it has the authority to add and/or remove individuals from collective bargaining units at its whim without considering consequences to the government? The last time the Legislature interfered with our collective bargaining agreements it cost the taxpayers $63 million dollars. Are we back to this again?” Mapp wrote.

Mapp also line-item vetoed a section of the bill which adds “any other dwelling place” to the 1000-foot prohibition of the storage of hazardous chemical or activities from nurseries, elementary or secondary schools, playgrounds, hospitals or senior citizen centers.

“The addition of the phrase “any other dwelling place” is overly broad and would clearly run afoul of continued growth in the private sector,” Mapp wrote, adding that it would interfere with plans for employee housing at the Limetree Bay oil storage facility.

Another line item veto struck a passage concerning insurance and portable electronic devices, saying the language was incomprehensible.

“This measure lacks clarity as to the true intent of its purpose. It is unclear why such a provision in law would be necessary. Is it to prohibit the binding and/or purchasing of insurance by portable electronic means? Is the bill intended to restrict the transactions regarding insurance by portable electronic devices? We cannot decipher the intent of the language,” Mapp wrote.

He vetoed a bill he said would allow hotels that get EDC tax breaks to have 25 percent of their occupancy taxes back for hotel development and expansion, saying it was too generous and the funds were needed to promote tourism.

And he vetoed a spot rezoning requested by Luis and Ludymar Ortiz to rezone Plot No. 56 of Parcel No. 67 of Estate Mount Welcome from R-1 to R-3, residential medium density, to build a three-story, two-family house.

The Department of Planning and Natural Resources recommended against the spot-rezoning, saying it was “out of character with the surrounding properties and general area” and Mapp said he felt DPNR raised “very valid concerns … .”

In vetoing a bill that would allow for the pronouncement of death by registered nurses, physician assistants and nurse practitioners, Mapp acknowledged some states and jurisdictions have adopted similar statutes. He wrote he was “favorably disposed towards the legislation” and asked the Legislature to require the Health Department to issue appropriate regulations to allow this to happen in a way that protects V.I. residents.

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