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June 12, 2007 U.S. Senate passes V.I. Property Tax Bill; bill sent to President Government House announced this evening that the U.S. Senate overcame a months-old parliamentary hurdle and passed, on unanimous consent, a bill sponsored by V.I. Delegate Donna Christensen which repeals a 1936 federal law limiting the authority of the Virgin Islands Government to administer its own property tax system. The bill, which passed the House of Representatives last January, now goes to the President for his signature. The bill had been held up by a U.S. Senator who had put a “legislative hold” on all bills reported by the Senate Energy Committee, including the Virgin Islands property tax bill. The Senator agreed to release his hold on the bill, after the Senate leadership agreed to separate the Virgin Islands bill from the other Senate Energy Committee bills that prompted the hold in the first place. Both Gov. John P. deJongh, Jr. and Christensen had lobbied the Chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico), and the Committee Ranking Member, Pete Domenici (R-New Mexico), on the need for quick action on the bill in this session of the Congress. “Without Congressional repeal of the colonial-era statute, the local government would continue to operate under a court injunction which limits its authority to assess and collect real property taxes in the Territory,” deJongh said Tuesday. The 1936 statute, which was resurrected by the U.S. District Court for the Virgin Islands in an earlier action by several property owners, prevents the Government from exercising authority, enjoyed by all other States and Territories, to tax real property at different rates, depending on the type or use of the property. For example, the District Court relied on the 1936 statute to overturn the Territory’s 10 percent cap on increases in residential property tax assessments during any assessment period -- a practice used by many local governments on the mainland to protect homeowners from soaring property values. “I am enormously grateful to the United States Senate for finally taking action on this critical measure,” deJongh said. “In particular, I would like to thank Chairman Bingaman and Ranking Member Domenici for their assistance in resolving the difficult parliamentary issues, as well as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) for his agreement to place the bill on the Senate calendar. I also want to thank our Delegate, Donna Christensen, for her leadership in guiding the House bill through the legislative labyrinth as one of the first orders of business in this Congress,” deJongh said. Lt. Gov. Gregory Francis whose office oversees property assessment and taxation also heralded the bill’s passage Tuesday saying that his office is prepared to follow the mandate of the legislation. “The measure has a far reaching impact on the Virgin Islands property tax system,” Francis noted. “This bill, when finally signed into law, will provide the Government with the authority required to protect homeownership in the Virgin Islands, and the flexibility needed to fairly administer our property tax laws,” deJongh pointed out. |
